The Next Evolution in firearm development? aesthetics.

Vitaly Bulgarov: someone PLEASE hire this guy!

​It seems we've come almost as far as we can with firearms in terms of caliber, materials and functionality: we have every manner of weapon for almost every requirement and proclivity from classic/historical to sporting/tactical but modern weaponry lacks the pleasing profiles that could broaden their appeal and collectibility. During a recent conversation with a firearms engineer I broached the subject of ubiquitous ugliness in the gun world, to which he replied "form is necessarily dictated by the components that comprise it's mechanics." I strongly disagree. If form were simply an exoskeleton to our guts, humans would resemble a bag of lumpy worms and sticks but God saw fit to conceal our reptilian inner workings with a pleasing exterior. If car designers simply stretched a skin over the mechanical parts we'd have no Aston Martins, Maseratis or Ferraris never mind the bevy of iconic beauties from America's automobile heyday. But what my engineer friend was suggesting wasn't far from the modern day truth regarding weaponry, engineers are NOT product designers and it's what the industry lacks and badly needs. Sam Colt and John Browning definitely had some artful genes as almost all their firearms were deeply pleasing to behold then and now. Dan Wesson and Edgar Budischowski may be modern manifestations but engineers with such an eye are few and far between. My recommendation to manufacturers would be to hire one of the great fantasy artists who's designing the make-believe weaponry used in futuristic movies and console games and commission them to design a line of the most awesome looking guns for the consumer market. Thanks to Youtube modern gunning is now more about fun at the range than it is about hunting or target shooting, so steampunk/futuristic is the new direction without a shadow of a doubt. With modern MIM, nylons and polymers we can injection mold any shape for pennies, so what's stopping us? Fear. Listen up manufacturers and just remember one thing: if a billion of us are enjoying using awesome looking weaponry (with feint resemblance to what's on the current market) in our avatar personas via gaming, wouldn't it make sense we'd enjoy owning them in our real life too? The market's there, all we need is the courage of the industry to hire the right artists to conceive the next generation of range funnery. Also, it's well accepted that science fiction has an uncanny ability to predict future trends therefore by actuating the services of a creative you may just unearth the next era in firearm innovation. Ed.