The following year, Mazda teased the world with another example of Kodo Design with Minagi, a compact crossover SUV concept which later evolved into the award-winning Mazda CX-5. The Shinari was a four-door sports coupe concept which gave the vision of an animal ready to pounce, foreshadowing an exciting future for Mazda design. Therefore, “Soul of Motion” takes on a double meaning, expressing both the essence of motion and the “soul” imbued in the car by Mazda’s master craftsmen. We believe that a form sincerely and painstakingly made by human hands gets a soul,” Ikuo Maeda explains.

This idea is central to the way Mazda has always thought about design: “In Japan, we feel that craftsmen inject life into what they make. The word Kodo literally translates as “heartbeat”, but with the added meaning of filling something with life of giving it a soul. Introduced ten years ago at the 2010 LA Motor Show with the Shinari concept car, Kodo Design has been defining and elevating Mazda’s award-winning styling ever since, with its core principle remaining unchanged: to explore the powerful and irresistible beauty of natural movement in a still object. With the “Kodo – Soul of Motion” design philosophy, Head Designer Ikuo Maeda set a bold new direction for design at Mazda. Car Wheels and Parts 3D Modeling TutorialsĮxpressing the “Soul of Motion”, the Kodo design philosophy aims at transposing the beauty of movement into a still object.

Zbrush animal sculpting