Najad

In 2013 the core of the company Najad Yachts was acquired of Lidköpings Båtbyggeri, a year later the board decided to re-brand the Swedestar boats built by Lidköpings Båtbyggeri and use the Najad brand instead. The new boat models are re-named to Najad 415 Performance (Najad 415p) and Najad 370 Performance (Najad 370p). The work carried out to fit the boats to the existing Najad product portfolio was limited and the only change made to the boats was replacing the color of the hull stripe from blue to red.

Therefore this master thesis was set up with the aim to re-design the interior of the Najad 415p so it would fit Najad’s existing product portfolio. In addition to the main aim, the company also wanted to make a face lift on the boat exterior, designing new port lights and a bowsprit were also set up as goals for the project.

Designing the interior demanded extensive knowledge regarding the brand identity of Najad. Therefore a user study containing questionnaire and a online survey, were carried out in order to gain knowledge about how the brand is perceived today. A more tangible study was also carried out with the aim to extract parts and details in existing Najad interiors characteristic for the brand. These details were then used in the design process of the interior. Iterative sketching and evaluation sessions led to a final interior design proposal.

The bowsprit and port light design process were carried out with an initial focus on benchmarking competitors. With inspiration from the benchmarking study the design process mainly consisted explorative sketching followed up with evaluation sessions in cooperation with Najad. Insights gained were then taken back to the drawing board making the whole design process highly iterative. The final designs were modeled and rendered in order to accurately present the concepts.

Details and characteristics for the Najad brand found during the brand analysis part of project were summarized in brand identity book in order to facilitate future cooperation between Najad and design consults. The final result of the whole design project, the new Najad 415p, was showcased in a brochure

At the end of the project all work done reached a highly detailed concept level, although constructional calculations and manufacturing preparations needs to be carried out before the concepts could be turned into real products.