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Product Designer Renders Laypeople's Inaccurate Bicycle Sketches

The Velocipedia project is "a crowdsourced catalog of new incredible bicycle typologies"

By Rain Noe - April 14, 2016

Ever play Pictionary with someone who can't draw? It's excruciating, no? Now imagine these non-drawers were tasked with concept development and it was your job to render them.

Product designer Gianluca Gimini has capitalized on the limited abilities of non-drawers in order to create Velocipedia, his wonderful, six-year-long rendering project. "Back in 2009 I began pestering friends and random strangers," Gimini writes. "I would walk up to them with a pen and a sheet of paper asking that they immediately draw me a men's bicycle, by heart. Soon I found out that when confronted with this odd request most people have a very hard time remembering exactly how a bike is made. Some did get close, some actually nailed it perfectly, but most ended up drawing something that was pretty far off from a regular men's bicycle."

Gimini then rendered these sketches, to hilarious effect:

Enter a caption (optional)

Some of these actually look pretty wicked. And to be clear Gimini, for his part, is not mocking these folks' work, but appreciating it. "I collected hundreds of drawings, building up a collection that I think is very precious," he explains. "There is an incredible diversity of new typologies emerging from these crowd-sourced and technically error-driven drawings. A single designer could not invent so many new bike designs in 100 lifetimes and this is why I look at this collection in such awe."

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Product Designer Renders Laypeople's Inaccurate Bicycle Sketches

Gijo George

3 years ago

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Excellent renderings. I loved the design with two free wheels and thick tyres.

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Peter Spence

4 years ago

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This is bloody brilliant! I can imagine some bearded hipster riding a couple of those bikes!

The last one with front wheel drive, there's an idea!

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- Arturo Salazar
  
  Peter Spence
  
  4 years ago
  
  Z
  
  Z
  
  Reply
  
  The problem lies on turns.
  
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  - Arturo Salazar
    
    Arturo Salazar
    
    4 years ago
    
    Z
    
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    But maybe someone can work magnets oround :P
    
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Neil Bradley

4 years ago

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Some of these looked really cool! (Despite not being functional)

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- Gavin Ivester
  
  Neil Bradley
  
  4 years ago
  
  Z
  
  Z
  
  Reply
  
  perfect illustration of the problem with visually appealing design that doesn't work!
  
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Rain Noe

I’m a lapsed industrial designer. I was born in NYC and figured I’d die there, but a few years ago I abandoned New York to live on a farm in the countryside with my wife. We have six dogs.