Setting the benchmark.
Tangent partnered with Goshen, Indiana based RV manufacturer Keystone to design, develop and model the exterior fiberglass cap range for Keystone’s luxury 5th wheel offering, the Keystone Montana. Tangent designed front and rear fiberglass caps for the full Montana line-up of 5th wheels, including windshield and non-windshield versions of each.
Beginning with a 3D data underlay supplied by the client’s engineering team, Tangent set about developing 2D concepts that would accurately convey the client’s desired styling direction while incorporating mounting hardpoints and the necessary window and lighting content for each model range, including DOT marker lights and LED accent lighting.
After settling on a 2D direction that fulfilled the clients’ design and packaging requirements, Tangent began modeling the various 5th wheel caps in Autodesk Alias, making sure to carefully consider the production needs of the fiberglass supplier while doing so. By moving into the 3D stage of the design process, Tangent was able to gather critical insights into the proportions and scale of the cap’s various design features, using our in-house virtual reality set up. This VR set up allowed Tangent’s designers to review the CAD data in accurate, full scale lighting environments that would be impossible to replicate with the creating of expensive and complex models and prototypes.
In addition to the design and development of the Montana cap range, Tangent’s team of graphic designers were tasked with developing a graphics package and logo redesign that would bring a contemporary feel to the Montana refreshed cap rang. In conjunction with the 3D development of the Montana cap, Tangent was able to produce and display graphic concepts with real world accuracy thanks to VRED’s 3D rendering capabilities. This allowed the client to make informed, critical decisions without the need for complex and unwieldy prototypes, or physical mockups.
After settling on a 3D direction, Tangent utilized its close working relationship with the fiberglass supplier to bring the project through the home stretch, producing pattern ready molds from its 3D CAD files.
You can learn more about the Keystone Montana, and its various configurations at Keystone’s website.
Images courtesy of Thor Industries