Revisiting the mini schoolbus
Il seems like Quebec is a breeding ground for designers. After meeting Simon Lamarre, from Volvo, Ralph Gilles, from DaimlerChrysler, and Paul Deutchman, designer of the Callaway C12s et C16s, I'm not surprised to see our representatives achieve such success in various fields of activity: entertainment (Cirque du soleil), video games, animation, etc. Montreal has a unique cultural background with both American and European influences. Last year, Jonathan Côté completed his bachelor's degree in industrial design at the University of Montreal. Born in Laval, he also received the honorary mention from the Quebec Industrial Designers Association for his mini schoolbus project.
Why the mini schoolbus?
Talk about an unattractive vehicle! We can't even see the difference between a Ford and a GM architecture. We only seem to focus on its mission: transporting people. Jonathan asked himself: what if we looked at it differently? For this young designer, the question went beyond styling. Indeed, Jonathan took on the task of revisiting the initial, fundamental purpose of the minibus, which was to transport school children, the elderly and reduced-mobility people. There were also plans, when this type of vehicle was created, to design touring and business models.
A versatile platform
Jonathan wanted to go further: rather than using the traditional chassis provided by the automakers, his intention was to offer a multifunctional platform that could integrate other functions such as the famous "cube" for delivery. Take a look at his sketches to fully understand the potential versatility of his concepts.
A useful shape and a trademark
In his designs, Jonathan takes it one step further. By visiting and collaborating with the executives of Autobus Giradin, Jonathan realized that his vision could be taken to another level. The objective was to create a vehicle with practical shapes based on a single platform that could serve several purposes. A company that would adopt this concept could create a trademark to widen its product portfolio instead of only producing minibuses for school and passenger transportation.
Prototype
After countless hours of study and research, Jonathan even decided to create a scaled prototype. In this kind of projects, graduate students usually stop after their drawings are completed. "When we began assembling the prototype, we were faced with the 3D challenge. It's important to be able to translate your vision into a actual model in order to find out what it's really like," explains Jonathan.
