AutoCar UK talk to Domagoj Dukec - Drawing fire: We talk to BMW's design director

[Mani59]

Interesting words from Domagoj.

"It’s very authentic for BMW to do bold statements,” Domagoj Dukec says with the confident grin of someone who knows that he isn’t dealing in hyperbole.

In this case, we’re talking about the i Vision Circular, the radical concept car that showcases how BMW will apply ‘circular economy’ principles to future production machines. But the head of BMW Design could also be talking about much of his recent work, from the ever-growing range of SUVs to the ever-growing kidney grilles.

While it’s often divisive, Dukec has chosen to go for bold over bland. And that philosophy should stand BMW in good stead as the car industry undergoes a generational transformation through electrification, digitalisation and sustainability. For a car designer, that must be a huge but very exciting challenge.

“You can’t choose in which epoch you’re a designer, but it’s very interesting to be one in a time when the car industry is facing such major challenges, where you don’t even know if it will survive,” says Dukec. “You can use your creativity to offer more, to offer new experiences of mobility.”

The changes in the car industry go beyond the switch to EVs, which BMW has embraced with the likes of the iX3 and i4. Those cars are essentially electric versions of combustion-engined BMW models; for the third phase of its electrification strategy from 2025, BMW is taking a “radically new” approach, including a commitment to sustainability, new software and a new flexible platform that can underpin a huge range of cars.

Company boss Oliver Zipse has named the new phase of models Neue Klasse (new class), reviving the name of the hugely popular line of 1960s models that transformed the fortunes of the Munich firm. As you might have read in last week’s Autocar, the range will encompass all of BMW’s models, including an equivalent of the 3 Series.

Before you get too excited about retro designs, Dukec insists that the only backward-looking thing about the Neue Klasse is the title. “We don’t make a homage to Neue Klasse,” he says.“But we’re a company who defined a new [market] segment and new product that was very relevant in the 1960s, combining elegance and dynamism in a way nobody else had before.”

While BMW has yet to preview any of its new Neue Klasse designs, the i Vision Circular that was revealed at the Munich motor show recently does hint at the philosophy that will underpin it. It put a major focus on sustainability, using entirely recycled or recyclable materials and reducing styling elements such as chrome details. Dukec says that those principles will be applied to BMW’s future models.

“Neue Klasse will stand for electrification, digitalisation and sustainability,” he explains. “We’re asking: ‘How can we make a car that’s sustainable and intelligent and do more with less?’ This is something that’s very authentic to BMW.

“As designers, it’s about rethinking and reducing. It’s how we treat materials – not using chrome, creating materials to use less leather. For us, electrification alone isn’t the sustainable path it is for others. They think they make electric cars and there, work done. But the problem is bigger.”

Dukec says that his design team has embraced the challenge of making more sustainable cars with conviction because “they’re completely convinced that this is the right thing” to do.

He adds: “Designers are very responsible in their private lives, so they were always fighting, going: ‘I’m working in the car industry producing cars but at home I’m eating no meat.’ So our differentiator is to make a green car that isn’t greenwashing. We really believe luxury for our customers will be that they want consumption that’s really sustainable.”

The challenge for Dukec is to find materials and design processes that allow for future BMW models to be as bold and meaningful in terms of construction as they are in terms of styling.

“We must be bold and meaningful,” he says. “You can do bold through many tricks. Everybody knows how to make a car attractive, but if it’s not meaningful, it’s empty.”

The i Vision Circular also hints at how the shape of cars could change to meet new use cases in the future. Will Neue Klasse cars still be similar shapes to today’s BMWs?

“There’s a reason why BMW, the Neue Klasse, is a very typical three-box silhouette. That’s the case for every car we’re doing today. The 2 Series Coupé is the best example: we have a rear-wheel- drive proportion but we treat it as a three-box. There are no other cars like it in the segment.

“So the three-box is something we strongly believe in, and in the Neue Klasse there will be some products [like this]. But of course we also do SUVs, and there is a need for SUVs in the future.

“The silhouette in the future will be something like the kidney grille today, where we make sure it’s the original but not retro. It has to be BMW.”

So while BMW’s future design will change radically, there will still be room for the kidney grilles, the Hofmeister kinks and other iconic elements. They will just be interpreted differently.

"In the past few years, there has been a lot of discussion about our kidney,” says Dukec, “but it’s important we bring future customer generations and fans together. Fans aren’t always customers, but we want customers to become fans.

“You can’t just design to keep your icons alive: you have to create new ones. Why is the Neue Klasse iconic? Why do people love the Hofmeister kink? Because they were innovative.

“We’re very concerned about this, but it’s something you can’t always explain to fans. They love what they see and they want to have it forever – but you can create new icons when you do something that has never been done before. The i3 is an icon. Iconic is not always beautiful, it’s about something new. People ask when we will do a new M1, but doing that wouldn’t be very innovative; it would just be making something that was at one time something strong.”

That philosophy is best seen in Dukec’s oft-criticised kidneys. On EVs such as the i4 and iX, the grille has been turned into a panel housing the various sensors and systems today’s cars require. “It means the icon becomes intelligent, so it becomes more meaningful,” says Dukec.

More meaningful – but still bold. And so while BMW’s design will change significantly in the future, that approach won’t be changing at all.

Source: https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/n...esign-director

[Tambohamilton]

Blah blah blah, ugly cars, blah blah. Nothing he says holds any water for me

[Artemis]

"In the past few years, there has been a lot of discussion about our kidney," says Dukec, "but it’s important we bring future customer generations and fans together. Fans aren’t always customers, but we want customers to become fans."
"You can’t just design to keep your icons alive: you have to create new ones."

Point taken. Been discussed ad nauseam and not intending to fan the flames about the controversial kidney grilles.

But here's a simple query for Domagoj Đukec: one can wonder how, on a personal level, Đukec truly feels about the fact of being required to repeatedly explain and justify criticized design choices; to be required once again to attempt to get his message across. I do not refer to any marketing prepared narrative. I refer to what's going through his mind when he drives home after yet another meeting or interview facing those very same challenging questions that keep recurring. Cannot be merely, let me guess, "look, this is part of the job", "opinions can be like wine that tastes better with age" or "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink", no ?

I genuinely think that Đukec and his team gave their level best and that they believe in their designs. But it must be heartbreaking on a personal level to repeatedly face an unusual barrage of unfavorable criticism from different corners of the car enthusiasts community. Ask yourself, wouldn't it be more satisfying for a car designer that a novel car design instantly or quite rapidly strikes hearts and minds of many car enthusiasts with good vibes, rather than striking their nerves ?

Imagine as car designer to be that 8-year old petrolhead kid again of decades ago, asked for an honest, visceral opinion about the design of a new high performance car. Litmus test: do you, as that kid, like the design thàt much that you'd even hang a poster of that high performance car on your bedroom wall ?

Impossible to please everyone and of course there are the inevitable practical constraints (physics, functionality, car parts, engineering, financial resources, development time window, car design history, rules & regulations, etc.). But car manufacturers should never forget that the customer is their boss. And also a part of the car enthusiasts community happens to be existing or potential customers, usually voting with their wallets.

As BMW and BMW M are no charity, sales figures do matter, of course. But no rocket science or PhD is required to know that a design mostly perceived as 'attractive' by the target demographic, usually stands a better chance to generate (even) more positive buzz and sales, than a design mostly perceived as 'less attractive' or 'unattractive' by the target demographic (which, unfortunately, usually also casts a shadow over the intrinsic qualities and excellence, not doing justice to all the R&D engineers' hard work).

To all those brushing away most car enthusiasts' criticism by name-dropping the idea of avant-garde and by quoting sales figures as some sort of appreciation meter: the minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settled for.

Video of former Coca-Cola boss Donald R. Keough announcing in Spring 1985 the re-introduction of "Classic Coke" after a very bad reception of "New Coke":

"These people [criticizing the "New Coke" introduction] and thousands like them have gone public with their love affair for Coca-Cola [...] So what does all of this really means ? It only means what we say: that our boss is the consumer. Some critics will say «Coca-Cola has made a marketing mistake» and some cynics say that we planned the whole thing. The truth is: we're not that dumb and we're not that smart."

[Zodiac]

After seeing that abomination, called by mr Domagoj an iVision Circular, I stumbled upon Audis new proposition: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=593304628351390

That made me ask my friends at BMW a quick question (and this time it was not about the new 7 series, indeed): what are they thinking, drinking and/or smoking, if they want to put this abomination as a "challenger" next to that Audi.

The reply came fast: well, the most important thing you should consider is that the BMW iVision Circular is almost completely made of garbage. Audi can't beat us in this regard.

Yeah, I do agree, it's a 100% complete garbage.

[R N M]

Bad design is just bad and will not get better if you try to explain the justification for why you designed in such a way.

Porsche, Mercedes, hell even Genesis have introduced new design language that is progressive yet attractive.

Iconic brands like Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lambo, McLaren all have futuristic modern designs that are great.

[BRAKE!]

When I initially saw the new 4 series, I thought it was absolutely disgusting, but now I think it looks amazing. When you see one out on the road/in real life, there is presence to these cars and so much to appreciate. It’s definitely a departure from the previous models that were “easier” to like from the get-go, but once my mind embraced the new look, the previous designs started to look a little bland and predictable.

I also remember the bangle era where enthusiasts HATED the bangle-butt of the 7 and 6 series or the headlights of the e60 5 series (especially when compared to the e39 that came before it) but those cars laid the foundation for new designs that were quickly appreciated. I think there is still hope we’ll continue to get good BMW designs in the future.

[Tambohamilton]

Originally Posted by R N M

Bad design is just bad and will not get better if you try to explain the justification for why you designed in such a way.

Porsche, Mercedes, hell even Genesis have introduced new design language that is progressive yet attractive.

Iconic brands like Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lambo, McLaren all have futuristic modern designs that are great.

Exactly. If you have to justify or explain a design, it's a bad design.

[stein_325i]

Should rename the article to "Dukec trying to justify his design choices for the 10th time."

[GoneIn4Secs]

Never go full retard

[Germanauto]

Originally Posted by BRAKE!

When I initially saw the new 4 series, I thought it was absolutely disgusting, but now I think it looks amazing. When you see one out on the road/in real life, there is presence to these cars and so much to appreciate. It’s definitely a departure from the previous models that were “easier” to like from the get-go, but once my mind embraced the new look, the previous designs started to look a little bland and predictable.

Lol there is no "presence" to the 4-series. it has soft bland lines on the side and looks front heavy like a beaver. I think the M3/4 isn't as offensive but still don't find it to be good design.

There's a simply explanation for all this: BMW has lost the thunder it used to command in the industry for several decades. BMW used to be the coolest and most aspirational car, it was a big deal if you saw somebody driving one. However over the past 10-15 yrs, they have watered down how their cars drive considerably to attain more mass market appeal, have lost their once-alluring identity to Tesla, and are selling an endless number of their 7 SUVs and cheapo base model 3-series to people who are badge enthusiasts.

What remains is a company with a lost identity grappling for attention. That desire for attention is reflected in many of these latest designs. In some ways I do feel BMW's pain. "The ultimate driving machine" is no longer valued by consumers in such a global and tech-dominated world. Their expertise in engines is being outlawed. It's tough to adjust to the immense social and political changes in society the past 15 years.