Home » The Positives Of Negative Space: Cold Start

The Positives Of Negative Space: Cold Start

Cs Safari911
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Another late Cold Start, so that must mean that I’m still on West Coast time, still here at the LA Auto Show spreading Autopian joy the only ways I know how, with my fists, Sugar and Spice (brandishes fists, each about the size of a tangelo). Part of what’s great about this is that The Autopian Wall Of Joy is part of the Galpin Hall of Customs, which is full of great cars, including this incredible 1974 Porsche 911 Carerra the talented Galpin folks modified. I want to show it to you not just because it’s great overall (I mean, hell, it won the People’s Choice Award at the Werks Reunion) but because there’s a detail on it that I’ve always appreciated from a graphic design perspective.

This 911 has been customized to be like a period-correct safari/off-road machine, complete with an unashamed ’70s color palette and glorious stripes and all the fun stuff like roll cages and plenty of lights and big tires. But I want to point out this little bit of graphic design on the sides:

Vidframe Min Top
Vidframe Min Bottom

Cs Safari Side

I love how the word Safari is made only with what’s not there; it’s cut out of the stripes on the side, with just a few edges delineated in white, just four squiggles to help guide your imagination to see what isn’t, yet is, there. It’s classic use of negative space, kind of like how the FedEx logo hides that little arrow.

I suppose you can argue that the negative space usage continues with all of those holes drilled into the bumpers; more design with voids, and it doesn’t hurt that it saves weight and allows airflow, too.

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Anyway, it’s just a fun detail that I wanted to show you, if you’ll forgive my being so negative, spatially.

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Stef Schrader
Stef Schrader
1 year ago

I do believe this is what is called “good parsh.”

Jakob K's Garage
Jakob K's Garage
1 year ago

Holes in the bumpers on a safari car? Is that for collecting sand samples or something?
And a targa, so you’ll get sunstroke quicker? Just doesn’t make any sense.

But the graphics and colours sure are fun 🙂

David Smith
David Smith
1 year ago

It looks like it says atari to me.

Paul Brogger
Paul Brogger
1 year ago

Any wind noise with that perforated bumper?

InWayOverMyHead
InWayOverMyHead
1 year ago
Reply to  Paul Brogger

Nope, none at all due to the fact that this car will never, ever, ever be driven on, or much less, off road.

Fjord
Fjord
1 year ago

Doesn’t seem like a great concept for actual safari-style use. With an open top, you’d cook in the sun, get suffocated in dust, and the cabin could get filled with mud.

Agreed the graphics are pretty excellent.

Ben
Ben
1 year ago
Reply to  Fjord

Most of this applies to ATVs/UTVs too and they still sell like hotcakes.

Brummbaer
Brummbaer
1 year ago

Fugly.

Gary Moller
Gary Moller
1 year ago

Sorry, Jason. That 911 is just hideous. I love 911s, and owned one once. But that overall look of almost monochrome, nauseating green kills it for me. And the negative space effect on the “Safari” looks more like “Satan”. Probably a nod to whoever picked that color.

Balloondoggle
Balloondoggle
1 year ago

Well, isn’t that spacial. Who do you suppose designed that look?

Perhaps….

SATAN?!?

MATTinMKE
MATTinMKE
1 year ago
Reply to  Balloondoggle

Glad I’m not the only one who miss-read that script!

Balloondoggle
Balloondoggle
1 year ago
Reply to  MATTinMKE

I didn’t catch that until you pointed it out. Nice!

ADDvanced
ADDvanced
1 year ago

I thought you were going to mention the negative space of the entire roof missing since it’s a targa 😛

Andy Individual
Andy Individual
1 year ago

I prefer the negative spaces on the bumper(s), I assume the rear is the same as the front.

Andy Individual
Andy Individual
1 year ago

Edit: *in* the bumpers.

OverlandingSprinter
OverlandingSprinter
1 year ago

Negative space on the logo, yes yes yes.

But what’s the thing on the frunk? It looks like a neck brace-pillow for three very narrow people.

Col Lingus
Col Lingus
1 year ago

Rally lights, the front part is removable to expose the lights when needed? Maybe more aero efficient than the old style lens covers in the 1970s?

ADDvanced
ADDvanced
1 year ago
Reply to  Col Lingus

Not aero, just protection from rock chips and whatnot. Those lights are expensive!

Col Lingus
Col Lingus
1 year ago
Reply to  ADDvanced

That’s not what Uncle Ferdinand told me. But you do you. To each his own.

Chartreuse Bison
Chartreuse Bison
1 year ago
Reply to  ADDvanced

Like the other guy said, you legally had to cover them in some states.
My dad just bought the covers on his old Bronco

NebraskaStig
NebraskaStig
1 year ago

I believe it’s a quartet of driving lamps covered by a clip on lid. Aesthetically it definitely looks odd with the photo angle causing the stripes to be misaligned and feels set back to far on the frunk hood compared to most light pods on 911s.

OverlandingSprinter
OverlandingSprinter
1 year ago
Reply to  NebraskaStig

An over-engineered rock guard answers my question. But it raises more questions. I would think a custom fiberglass shroud over off-road lights would be 10X in cost over the replacement price of light fixtures, but that’s a guess.

Maybe the shroud is just a show-car thing. From an aesthetics perspective on a vehicle of this type, I’d rather see the lights, even if the car never leaves the showroom.

8th--Note
8th--Note
1 year ago

you’d be shocked at what those vintage (and vintage style) Hellas and Cibies are going for these days

Drew
Drew
1 year ago

I thought it looked like a rifle rest or some sort of open sight for running people down accurately, so I am clearly too violent for this vehicle.

TOSSABL
TOSSABL
1 year ago

In Virginia at least, in the era this was made, it was illegal to have non-stock off-road lights on pavement. If you didn’t have a cover on your KC HiLites, you would definitely be inviting a ticket. I’m assuming that’s why the cover exists because it’s a bit jarring.

Jakob K's Garage
Jakob K's Garage
1 year ago

It’s a camel stopper, so they don’t hit the windscreen.

Dodsworth
Dodsworth
1 year ago

Just for fun I would tell people it’s a sat com navigation locator. Engage it and you’ll be rescued within 24 hours. FAB.

msisaacs
msisaacs
1 year ago

“But what’s the thing on the frunk?”

It’s there so that you can lay down on the hood and prop your legs up for a gynecological exam.

Col Lingus
Col Lingus
1 year ago

Thanks Uncle Jason! Where do we send our money? Shit this kicks ass big time. Time to start hunting for the Holy Grail: a decent, and decently priced 911 shell to begin my own Frankenstein build. Thanks for the grins…

Collegiate Autodidact
Collegiate Autodidact
1 year ago

That’s indeed mighty cool! Ha, “Safari” on the side of a safari-ed (safari’d?) Porsche seems to be the equivalent of those Halloween superhero costumes for little kids with pictures of the superheroes on the front.

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