Design guru penetrates soul of design

Schreyer says designers need to stay ahead of customers’ expectations


When Kia Motors released its ambitious K-series, represented by the premium sedan K9 earlier this year, auto enthusiasts were more than thrilled.

The vehicles were nothing like the ones Kia had shown before. The cars’ faade resembles that of a tiger and the interior is sleek like a panther. “A true era of the Kia sedan has opened,” a commentator said at the time of release.

Behind the rejuvenation of the car maker was Peter Schreyer, chief of design at Kia, formerly the driving force behind the phenomenal success of the Audi TT. Now Schreyer has become one of the most admired industrial designers of the time and is planning to introduce K-sisters, K3 and others. 

“I always try to concentrate on the big picture. So my priority is Kia’s development as a brand, to build up Kia’s brand image as one of the leading car makers worldwide,” the design guru said in an interview with The Korea Herald.

Schreyer, known to have been hands-on in a slew of smash-hit cars including the Audi TT, A6, A3 and Volkswagen’s New Beatle and Mini, emphasized bringing out the essence of a project and its brand as a start.

“We develop a strong direction, a very sensitive design language. We have to keep and refine our design expertise, but also take some bold steps in the future and take on the challenges, like environmental requirements, safety and comfort improvements that are facing the car industry. We always need to be ahead of the customers’ expectations,” he added.

Schreyer will be visiting Korea on Sept. 20 to share his vision at the Herald Design Forum’s premium session. He will also put his impromptu sketches on auction for design lovers.

Any advice for fledgling designers dreaming of becoming the next Schreyer?

“It is important to keep in touch with other creative areas besides car design. I get inspired by all kinds of things like art, architecture, music, traveling, cooking, sports or nature, so I am able to come up with new, innovative solutions,” he said.

Schreyer said that it is essential to work in an atmosphere of trust and support as well as enjoy the designer’s creative freedom to be able to come up with leading design and highly competitive products. But he also opined that designers must be awake and alert to the smallest changes in the market.

“We are facing big challenges to improve our products in terms of fuel consumption, safety and comfort. In our design work we have to combine these challenges with new design solutions,” he said.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)