The truth is, I’m not a car person. I’ve never been impressed by shiny bonnet logos, luxury features or hot head boys driving hot rod wheels. In fact, the only car I’ve ever owned was older than I am, and broken into at least three times. This isn’t to say my expectations were low for Karim’s talk, after all, I know how much time and effort a business card can take—what on earth is required to design a car?!
 
As his biography states, Karim Habib has been the chief designer for BMW since 2012. He’s also the first car designer to speak at TYPO Berlin (ever) and began his talk by humbly thanking the audience for staying to listen to him at 7pm on a warm Friday afternoon.
 
Walking us through the process in a non-linear fashion, Karim had reoccurring themes of history, tradition and foresight. He stated “Our design philosophy is rooted in the history of the brand, but it’s our job to look into the future”, proceeding to describe what that future might look like, and how it’s closer than we may be ready to accept. Innovation around autonomous cars, sustainable materials and other technological advancements will affect all of our lives—whether we are ‘car people’ or not.
 
While the end result of what Karim does appears flashy and glamorous, the process to get there is rather modest. “Every one of the designers [at BMW] use pen and paper to begin with”, explaining how they start with sketches and eventually work their way up to a full-scale clay model. Proportion and scale are extremely important when it comes to making final decisions, and they create models down to the very last seat detail.
 
I can’t say I’m suddenly inspired to own a BMW one day, however I don’t believe that was ever the point of Karim’s talk. He strongly believes that driving isn’t always about getting from A to B, and I certainly appreciate the level of thought and accuracy that goes into designing the holistic sensory experience. Karim and his team try to understand not only how people see automobiles, but how they feel while driving them. They aim to challenge what it means to create the ultimate driving machine, versus sculpt the ultimate driver through pioneering design.
 
For those who love nothing more than to grip the steering wheel, you’re in good hands. While precision may be in the aesthetics, poetry is in the experience.
 
Written by Gabby Lord •