Marek Reichman, Design Director at Aston Martin

How did you come to be a car designer?

I was around 13 when I started to think seriously about a career as a car designer and I found out about the RCA when I was doing my O-Levels. First I studied industrial design at Teesside University as I wanted to understand the philosophy and the history of design and become a designer first. I thought, and still do, that it gives more of a balance. Teesside was great as it allowed me to do a car project for my last year. Then I got the great letter from the RCA to say I’ve been accepted.

Did your perception of car design change during the course?

The RCA has a very philosophical approach to design - in many ways it is a more intelligent course than some of the others. The course changed to vehicle design (from automotive design) when I joined, which brought in far more interesting interactions within the college. There was so much radical thinking about design. There needs to be this broadness of thinking in the world of car design.

What journey did you take after leaving the RCA?

First I worked for Land Rover, then owned by BMW, who had sponsored me before being sent over to California in 1996 to work at BMW’s Design Works studio to start the next generation of Land Rover products. BMW had so many brands and it was a great experience working with the likes of Chris Bangle (BMW's former design director) and Henrik Fisker (former Aston Martin design director currently at Fisker Automotive).

In 2002 I joined Ford in the US where I worked on Lincoln and Mercury models. The products were designed for a different market and they had a different set of rules, which meant that you had to put yourself in a very different mindset. I stayed there until I joined Aston Martin [LINK: http://www.astonmartin.com] in 2005.

What is your advice for young designers?

There are lots of opportunities for change, but the main thing is to understand brands, the working environment and technologies and the capabilities the industry has to offer. The design department has to be working four to five years ahead. Therefore you need to consider yourself a thinking designer at all times and consider what you’re doing right from the concept stage.

10 July 2009 | Cars