I used Color Studio to design the most obnoxious Nissan Kicks ever
Nissan’s configurator can add accessories in five different colors, and if you work at it like me, the results can be amusingly disastrous.
As a car nerd with a background in design, I love a good configurator. Who doesn't enjoy virtually building the Porsche or Mercedes-Benz of their dreams? (Especially only to ponder its unobtanium price, thereafter killing any sadness with chocolate chip cookies while watching Overhaulin' reruns with the cat?).
Complementary colors can bring out the cute in your ute.
With the debut of its latest cute ute, the 2018 Kicks, Nissan has launched Color Studio, which allows users to select from 12 accessory items in five different accent colors. This subcompact crossover is already a little funky looking, with a short wheelbase, a sloping roofline and some, shall we say "strongly designed" tail lights. Naturally, I decided to see how much weirder looking I could make it.
First off, I couldn't bring myself to start with a solid color. Sure, there are seven paint options, but that's way too pedestrian for my custom Kicks. Instead, I went for the orange/black two-tone combination. Out of the five combos offered, it's the brightest, and hey, obnoxious is my goal.
A little bit of patriotism in the rear end.
My accent color options are red, white, black, blue, orange and red. I've always liked complementary colors, so I chose blue mirror caps, along with matching door handles, front lip, rocker panel inserts and 17-inch wheel inserts. With all this orange and blue, my Nissan Kicks looks like a Denver Broncos cheerleader gone rogue.
I decided to do something a little different in the back, keeping blue for the rear lower accent, but adding a red roof spoiler and some white trim on the rear hatch. Why? Red, white and blue, baby. My Kicks is full-on Team America. From a Japanese automaker. But I digress.
The Kicks' black interior already has some nifty orange contrast stitching, and there's something cool about analogous colors, so I've gone with red for the air vents, rear view mirror, floor mats and door sill plates.
Red and orange, right next to each other on the color wheel and right next to my heart.
All told, my creativity adds $2,765 to the Kicks' $17,990 base price, not including labor, although my build here starts with the mid SV trim. If you're looking to save a bit of coin, Nissan says each accessory can be customer installed, as well.
Feel free to try it out for yourself. My result is probably nothing I'd ever want to be seen in, but hey, the cool thing about a configurator is that I can just start over and try something else. Blue with orange accents -- no, with red accents -- no, with red and white accents! I might be here awhile, folks.
