Land Rover Discovery with its hand-drawn livery
British automaker Land Rover is looking to its youngest collaborators to keep its latest secret.
Ahead of the premiere of its new Discovery vehicle later this month, Land Rover turned to the school-aged children of its designers and engineers to camouflage the model’s design with their drawings. The children were involved in every step of the family-friendly car’s development, making this final act of participation an homage to their role.
Drawing attention
Throughout the thousands of hours of development of the Discovery, it is a family affair, as children are involved in testing features and serve as inspiration for the needs of future owners. These young participants are in on the secret far ahead of its reveal, entrusted to keep everything under wraps.
As Land Rover looked to keep the Discovery’s full design hidden from plain sight during its final testing, the brand enlisted these children, ages 5 to 9, for an art project. They were instructed to draw their idea of an ideal day out and sign their name.
Land Rover Discovery's custom livery
After their artwork was complete, the car escorted a family of seven passengers through the mud, adding another layer of disguise.
“Being able to get the children involved in our final camouflage design brought a smile to all our faces," said Alex Heslop, Land Rover’s chief engineer for Discovery, in a brand statement. 'They don’t always realize it, but these kids have played a major role in developing the New Discovery.
“There is no better insight into the needs of the modern family than the first-hand experience we glean at home," he said. "That’s why we have up to nine USB ports to charge everyone’s devices, why we’ve got space to hide four iPads away securely and why every seat has been designed to be the best seat in the house.”
Land Rover All-New Discovery in Kids Camouflage
Before the Discovery's official debut Sept. 28, Land Rover has teased the vehicle's features in inventive ways.
For instance, Land Rover previously enlisted the help of a famous adventurer to show off the convenience and easy-to-use features of its new vehicle release.
The new Land Rover Discovery has a paired application that allows users to adjust the seating. British adventurer Bear Grylls is helping to show off the effortless experience of the innovative feature with a sky diving stunt captured on video (see story).