This is a six-month industry-academia collaboration project conducted in partnership with a renowned Taiwanese automotive lighting manufacturer. The goal is to design turn signals for popular heavy motorcycles in Taiwan, balancing aesthetics with production feasibility.
Design Concept: Inspired by Dragonfly Wings
The high-arched tail and raised fuel tank of the motorcycle body evoke the sleek form of a dragonfly. Drawing inspiration from this imagery, the turn signal design incorporates the concept of dragonfly wings.
Target Model: KAWASAKI NINJA Series
For this design, we focused on the KAWASAKI NINJA series. True to its name, this series is renowned for its agile and nimble performance, embodying the sleek and sharp imagery of a ninja. The Japanese-inspired streamlined design lends the motorcycle a sense of fullness and fluidity, without compromising its aggressive and cutting-edge aesthetic.
Designed for Easier Assembly
A threaded design is incorporated at the bottom of the light housing to facilitate assembly with a standard conical base.Cutouts are designed to enable convenient installation of hot riveting, ensuring a secure connection between the LED light board and the waterproof panel.A U-shaped waterproof groove is added to allow adhesive application, ensuring a tighter fit between the housing and the light guide.Design of Parting line for Mold-manufacturing
The parting line for molding is designed at the contact surface between the light guide and the base housing.
To mitigate the aesthetic disruption caused by the parting line on the streamlined appearance of the light, the initial design aligns the styling edges with the parting line to minimize its unavoidable visibility.
Thickness Simulations
Software simulations are used to test and ensure uniform thickness, preventing molding issues such as plastic shrinkage. The model design is repeatedly refined to achieve as consistent a thickness as possible.
