Van Exterior Customisation

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A personal project showcasing the exterior customisation of a Ford Transit van which has been converted into a marketing vehicle for a fitness equipment brand. The aim was to digitally visualise how the van could look like before making any commitments to purchase custom parts for it.

Many thanks to Gravity Fitness for granting permission to use their Calisthenics brand as the theme for the project.

How was it all done?

Started off with a Brief...

To design a custom package of graphics and aftermarket exterior bolt-on modification parts that convey the brand's identity. These mods should be easily removable when the van is being prepared for sale.

Approach

Drew inspiration from the Gravity Fitness product line which features a simple, robust, and functional aesthetic.

Also aimed to give the van a strong and agile appearance synonymous with calisthenics athletes.

In addition, experimented with decal ideas focusing on simplicity, dynamism and their relative ease to apply on the panel surfaces.

Challenge

A digital model matching the real Ford Transit van owned by Gravity Fitness was purchased.

However, the selected aftermarket parts, such as the Black Rhino Midhill alloy wheels, did not have publicly available CAD model data nor blueprints.

The solution was to model the parts using reference images or design them from scratch. All the modelled parts are highlighted in yellow below.

The chosen mod parts which are readily available for purchase, were remodeled in 3D based on reference images.

Modelling the wheels opened an opportunity to tinker with the offset and width to achieve the target appearance.

Initial sketches exploring custom roof rack and wind deflector fairing assembly ideas.

A few configurations from the custom roof rack design.

Outcome

Once the modelling phase was complete, lighting and textures were applied to the van before producing the series of CG rendered images showcased above. These images depict the final appearance of the van's exterior, complete with the custom mods and decal graphics.