EVTOL manufacturer, Volocopter reached out to me to create a livery and design feature refinements for their new concept vehicle: VoloXPro. An electrically powered ultralight multicopter for air sports and professional passenger transport. The brief asked for adjustments to the landing skid fairings and rear fuselage to bring some character to the design. This was quite challenging as any modifications to the base design would easily result in greater weight for the vehicle, and so reducing unnecessary features was key to a working design. The unusual nature of the aircraft’s shape also offered an aesthetic challenge of how to make the vehicle more appealing. I created multiple livery designs to further bring character to this unique design.
Some of my initial designs explored a wide variety of aesthetic options. These were created before the weight limitations were set in place and were designed to explore how far the base configuration could be taken aesthetically. The top-heavy appearance of the vehicle limits’ aerodynamic appeal, therefore these sketches re-worked the overall shape to re-imagine what design features could be introduced.
With weight being the dominant factor, the design was reduced to it’s purest form, shortening the tail section, and introducing angular cut shapes, enabling a bold and stylised appearance. This was punctuated by minimalist graphics that highlighted various small features. Finally, shark-like gill air inlets were added to the rear to serve as cooling for the internal power supply.
Further weight reduction
After arriving at a working design, it was decided that additional weight would need to be reduced from the airframe to offset the weight of the rear loaded batteries. The rear section was then shortened and the design features were brought forwards.
