“The decals have to work from 360 degrees.”
The decal design process is similar for each vehicle. Using detailed renderings from exterior designers, the team works together to decide which elements make up the model and which parts of the body to focus on. The aim is to abstractly reflect and visually reinforce the character of the model through decals. “The original idea always has to remain the guiding principle.”
That is when dos Santos’ design process really begins. With lots of hand-drawn sketches on paper (“I just need that connection between head, pencil, and hand”), the vision is finally translated into the vehicle using image and graphics software. The car is completely covered in decals, a process that takes several days due to the high level of meticulousness and precision required. “This is the moment of truth,” dos Santos elaborates, because “lines that looked straight before no longer appear straight at all on the body due to its many corners and edges.” During this phase of the work, dos Santos says, “a lot is thrown away, rethought, and redesigned.” In the process, dos Santos always has to consider how people will later view his design. “You never know which angle a person will see the Audi Q6 e-tron from for the first time. It’s not like in a movie with a camera, where you get to decide to focus first on this part, then that part. The vehicle is a sculpture. The decals have to work from 360 degrees, around the whole car, all the time.”
In the end, when the livery design has been perfectly matched to the car’s various geometries, dos Santos will have created a custom suit for the model. “It only exists once in the whole world, only for this exact model.”