The word "elegance" has many meanings, such as refined grace and tasteful richness. In science, the word often means precision or neatness. In mathematics, it describes a solution that does the job as simply as possible.
Sports fans might describe a pole vault or discus throw as elegance in motion. Pole-vaulting is a complex motion, involving several kinds of leverage, coordination of running speed, contact to the pivot point, and lofting of the body in an arc with an elaborate twisting motion. Similarly, a discus thrower has to execute a powerful twisting of the body and extend the discus arm from its hip position to its release position. The discus must be released at just the right moment in the body's spin and along exactly the right plane in relation to the ground.
Both sports are meat and potatoes to sports simulation technology. In the past, athletes had to self-correct or rely on the guidance of a good coach. Today's pole vaulters and discus throwers have the benefit of instant replay and a dozen techniques to show them what they are doing, so that they can correct their stance, motion, positioning, and speed.
The design of products and manufacturing processes shares the difficulties and opportunities of the pole vaulter and the discus thrower. Industrial designer Raymond Lowey insisted that a design should display a just-noticeable difference. For Lowey, acceptance by the buying public was based on a product's being not too new and yet not the same, old thing. This meant introducing, for example, an unfamiliar curve here or there. Lowey did this with the Coca Cola bottle and the Avanti car; both were pinched in at the waist. Lowey used conventional manufacturing processes, but modified the products' look and arrived at a new elegance — and lots of sales in Coca Cola's case.