From Clay to Code
Bringing Craftsmanship into Digital Automotive Experiences with Software. For decades, the heart of automotive design has lived in clay. Today, the digital experience is the car. Software defined vehicles, centralised compute, AI and over the air updates now shape how drivers connect, navigate, charge, and how they feel the brand over time. That digital layer deserves the same studio mindset, not a rushed afterthought.
From Clay to Code Bringing Craftsmanship into Digital Automotive Experiences
By Peter Virk • December 2, 2025 • 3 min read
For decades, the heart of automotive design has lived in clay.
You start with a sketch, then tape, then a clay model you can walk around, touch, argue over, refine. Every millimetre matters. Proportions, reflections, light. That level of craft and discipline is what makes a car feel alive.
Yet most of that obsession has gone into the physical, not the digital.
Today, the digital experience is the car. Software defined vehicles, centralised compute, AI and over the air updates now shape how drivers connect, navigate, charge, and how they feel the brand over time. That digital layer deserves the same studio mindset, not a rushed afterthought.
I have been lucky to work on both sides. Years alongside fantastic exterior and interior design teams, watching clay come to life. And years building and working with brilliant digital teams, wrestling with interaction models, in cabin behaviour and connected services. That mix makes one thing very clear to me. The magic happens when physical and digital are treated as a single fabric, shaped together.
At WYZER, this is exactly what we are focused on with our partners, by bringing knowledge together. Creative companies like Active Matter share the same goal, which is to make sure the digital experience is designed in collaboration, with a clear view of where it needs to be in the future. Guided by real expertise that knows where to invest, which pitfalls to avoid and how to keep moving forward with confidence, together.