[The designers of this product is of Ukrainian origin. YD is sharing work from Ukrainian designers/students in the hopes of amplifying their talent and giving them a global platform.]
Meet Reverso, an e-bike that reverses every single automotive design instinct ever. I guess we could attribute its design direction to the Cybertruck, which sort to challenge the norms too with a design that was strikingly different from anything that came before it. The Reverso sits firmly in that class too, with an aesthetic that I’m struggling to put together in words, only because I can’t really find a frame of reference.
Designers: Miller Shapes Design & Denys Silich
Analyzing the Reverso’s strange design turned out to be much more fun and insightful than I expected. It started with asking myself exactly what I found ‘wrong’ with the motorcycle’s design… then asking if those attributes were actually important in making something a ‘motorcycle’. After all, a motorcycle is exactly that – a motor attached to a cycle.
My first response to the analysis on what I found odd about Reverso was its rejection of standard proportions. Motorcycles are shaped almost like animals. They have a torso, a head, a spine, and when viewed from the side, they have an almost feline or greyhound-like appearance. Reverso, on the other hand, doesn’t. That’s also due to the fact that Reverso shatters the second weird myth I had about motorcycles and automobiles in general – that curved bodies made for greater aesthetics and aerodynamics. The Cybertruck, at least if its performance specs are accurate, is nothing short of a fast beast – and I assume that the same stands for Reverso. Its chunky body with cuboidal forms definitely doesn’t epitomize elegance and speed – if nothing it looks robotic and has an impression of an almost mechanical agility to it.
None of Reverso’s details or parts look ‘standard’ and that’s what makes the e-bike look so alluring. Aside from its wheels (which thankfully look like wheels and not hex-bolts), Reverso’s entire design looks odd. It has weirdly recessed headlights, a strange pair of perfectly rectangular side mirrors, a seat that definitely doesn’t look like your average ergonomic butt-rest, and a chunky torso that makes you really wonder what’s under the hood. Is there a fuel tank underneath there? Well, there jolly well could be, although the lack of a tailpipe makes me think otherwise. Where’s the battery located? Is it detachable? Is there extra storage? It’s normal to have these doubts – but that doesn’t necessarily make an e-bike’s design ‘bad’, does it?
Well, to be frank, I’m still processing Reverso’s design and learning to stop myself when I find my brain hating something it doesn’t understand. It comes a lot easier knowing that Reverso is just a concept and not an actual e-bike. The Cybertruck, on the other hand, well, I’m still on the fence there.
