Iconically Porsche
Mr. Blume, you come here often. Why is that?
Dr. OLIVER BLUME It’s important to me to maintain close contact with Michael and his team. Even for issues beyond mere coordination of new products. We’ve come to realize that design can do so much more than just styling our sports cars.
How do you mean?
DR. OLIVER BLUME Our design strategy serves as a guideline that we want to apply at the company far beyond the confines of design. It represents a clear added valued for the long-term position of our brand. Simply put, design experts develop brand strategies that we aim to use as a type of brand compass throughout the company—regardless of the actual product design. The aim is to ensure a consistent brand feeling that’s perceived the same way across all touchpoints with the Porsche world.
That’s quite an undertaking, isn’t it, Mr. Mauer?
Michael Mauer It certainly is. Continuity and consistency are part of our brand identity. Defining them carefully and carrying them into the future is a fundamental, strategic task. Rather than redefining everything anew, Porsche simply continues to develop what already works well. A long-term strategy is very important. It ensures a consistent and innovative way of thinking that aligns with the brand, and allows all of us at the company to move in the same direction. I’m delighted that we’re working with many other areas of the company to expand the strategy expertise derived from the design.
Let’s talk about concrete processes. How does the strategic aspect fit in to vehicle design?
Michael Mauer We’ve defined three terms for the design that describe our brand values, regardless of the models and derivatives: focus, purpose, and tension. They form the core of our strategic thought process. On that basis, we develop concrete designs on a product level. For example, these attributes come into play when we discuss the design of the display behind the steering wheel. In this context, focus means that we focus clearly on the driver and tailor the display to their specific needs. The result is our so-called curved display.
Let’s leave the result aside for just a moment and go back to the beginning. How does Porsche begin the design process for a certain model?
Michael Mauer Sketching with pencil and paper—or a tablet and stylus pen—is actually still the most important starting point when it comes to finding or visualizing ideas. It depends on whether there’s a predecessor model or we’re creating a brand-new product. Above all else, I need to be able to recognize immediately that it’s a Porsche.
“The Porsche identity, this design tradition that everything’s connected to—there’s nothing else like it.”
Dr. Oliver Blume
What are the most important topics?
Michael Mauer The early phase is largely about achieving optimal vehicle proportions. Just as the location is decisive for a piece of real estate, proportions are key when it comes to vehicle design. Proportions, proportions, and again proportions. What makes sports cars in general and Porsches in particular so special is their dramatic width-to-height ratio—regardless of the segment. This width-to-height ratio ensures that all of our products are recognizable as Porsches at first glance. Perfect proportions are the foundation of a consistent and authentic brand identity. And then there are additional details such as the abruptly sloping roofline that also characterize our vehicles. In addition to brand affiliation, we’ve also defined elements on the model level that, for example, clearly distinguish a 911 from a Panamera and provide every vehicle with its own character—its own product identity. Here, too, we’re largely guided by our design philosophy and can thus ensure that these features are established as part of our design identity over the long term.
Being creative, developing innovations, and preserving the identity that has evolved over the years—how do you reconcile all of that?
Michael Mauer It’s an exhilarating task like no other. Designing a Porsche that breaks entirely with history would be a terrible idea. In fact, we go in the opposite direction. It’s our job to visually present the brand in a way that is full of life, innovative, and forward-looking. To find the right balance between innovation and tradition. Here, in particular, I think the composition of the team plays a decisive role. For example, if we’re working on the successor of the current 911, we intentionally bring together experienced designers and young newbies. This form of exchange is extremely exciting and creates approaches that make this balance, in particular, a reality.
Masterful interplay of forms with continuity: the Porsche 911
You have helped shape the design culture at Porsche over the past two decades. What has changed, and what has remained the same?
Michael Mauer The designers’ work has changed dramatically over the past two decades. Topics like digital applications have become a whole lot more important. They represent both a challenge and an opportunity. On the one hand, we’ve come to realize that the user experience—or driver experience, as we call it—is becoming more and more important for the brand. On the other, digital applications in design provide us with the opportunity to visualize our ideas very quickly. Nevertheless, I still firmly believe that allegedly outdated physical clay models play a key role in the quality of our designs. But technological advancements have certainly had the biggest influence. Electric mobility is a very good example. Elimination of the massive engine block allows us to design a much more striking hood on our sports cars. At the same time, there needs to be enough space to house the large battery, which hasn’t gotten any smaller. The same goes for the manufacturing process. Today we’re able to produce shapes that were once impossible in the series production process.
“Perfect proportions are the foundation of a consistent and authentic brand identity.”
Michael Mauer
And what would you say about the future of design?
Michael Mauer The importance of design will only grow in the future—and not just on a product level. With our design philosophy, we’ve created the perfect foundation. A compass that provides the entire company with clear guidelines on the path to a consistent, emotionally charged customer experience.
Dr. Oliver Blume That allows us to sustainably strengthen the future viability of our brand over the long term. And there’s one thing that will never change: anytime you see a Porsche somewhere in the world, you will instinctively turn around. This Porsche moment is a huge acknowledgment. Especially because we’ve managed to maintain this enormous level of consistency over the decades. The Porsche identity, this design tradition that everything’s connected to—there’s nothing else like it. It’s an important incentive for many of our customers to buy.
