Frank Stephenson

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Ahmed Kseibati and Frank Stephenson 2016

Frank Stephenson (born October 3, 1959 ) is an American car designer known for his design work at Mini , Fiat , Alfa Romeo , Ferrari and McLaren . In 2008 Cardesignnews called him “one of the most influential automobile designers of our time”.

biography

Stephenson was on October 3, 1959 in Casablanca , Morocco , the son of one Norwegian father with American citizenship and a Spanish born mother. Due to his father's work, the family kept moving to other countries. They emigrated to Málaga , Spain . His father opened a car dealership there. From 1970 to 1977 he lived in Istanbul , Turkey and then moved to Madrid , Spain where he graduated from school. After school, Stephenson spent six years professionally in motocross . He has been interested in motorcycles since childhood . Because of his interest in the automotive industry, he studied automotive design at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena , California , USA from 1983 to 1986 . He speaks English , Italian , Arabic , German and Spanish . He has been listed in Debrett's People of Today since 2010 .

Design career

Mini hatch
2006 Ferrari F430

Stephenson's design career spanned several European automotive companies. He started at Ford's design studio in Cologne, where he designed some of the characteristic features of the Ford Escort RS Cosworth, in particular the large double rear spoiler . He later moved to BMW , where he worked for eleven years and was finally appointed senior designer. His redesign of the new Mini in 2001 resulted in the Mini Hatch, commonly known as the Mini or Mini Cooper. The Mini won the North American Car of the Year award in 2003. Stephenson designed the BMW X5 at BMW .

In July 2002, Stephenson was appointed director of design and development for Ferrari - Maserati . His work with Ferrari included the design of the Maserati MC12 and Ferrari F430 . He also oversaw Pininfarina's work on the Maserati Quattroporte , the Maserati Gran Turismo, and the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti . Stephenson's success at Ferrari resulted in his appointment as head of the company's Fiat, Lancia and Commercial Vehicle Styling Center in Turin in 2005 . He was entrusted with the redesign of the Fiat brand , for which he directed the styling of the Punto and Bravo . He translated Roberto Giolito's Fiat Trepiùno concept from 2004 into the 500 in 2007 . In June 2007 he became head of the Centro Stile Alfa Romeo .

Stephenson left Fiat in April 2008 and became Design Director at McLaren Automotive , where he developed a new design language and oversaw the creation of the P1 and the new McLaren range.

Stephenson left McLaren Automotive in early May 2017. He started his own design studio, as mentioned on his LinkedIn profile. In 2018, Stephenson will become Head of Product Design at the German aviation startup Lilium .

Design style

McLaren MP4-12C

Stephenson says he looks for inspiration everywhere and always sketching. He adds that he is “never bored”. As you walk down the street, you can find inspiration from "things on the sidewalk, the types of patterns, the symbols on the signs, there is always something that inspires you". His McLaren office was full of toys. Stephenson says, "It's the nature of any designer, you will find they have a toy store." He also says that he watches the animal kingdom to use bionics . He has a keen interest in biology and evolution and tries to " find the principles in nature that make products what they look like."

Stephenson's approach goes from sketchpad to computer graphics , to clay models, and finally to test models. He says the advantage of working with clay is that you can feel the transitions and feel where there is too much surface or where more surface is needed. He suggests that you could design a car almost blindly, because "you don't have to see it, you have to feel it, and when you feel it you can tell whether it is right or wrong."

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Noah Joseph: Frank Stephenson to direct McLaren design. In: cardesignnews.com. cardesignnews, August 8, 2008 (English): "Frank Stephenson as one of the most influential automotive designers of our time";
  2. ^ André Scheuermann, Frank Stephenson: Five questions to: Frank Stephenson. In: www.stern.de. Classic Driver, September 12, 2010 .;
  3. ^ Phil Patton: Inspired Career Leads Back to the Inspiration . The New York Times . February 23, 2011. Accessed August 9, 2018.
  4. ↑ Pate Rick C. Paternie: MINI , ISBN 0-7603-1157-9 .
  5. ↑ a b c How to Build a Supercar “MP4-12C”. In: BBC. InsideMcLaren, January 4, 2014, accessed August 10, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Joshua Dowling: Does this guy have the best job in the world? . In: Drive , September 8, 2005. Retrieved August 9, 2018. 
  7. ↑ Frank Stephenson to head Alfa Romeo styling center . In: duemotori.com . Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  8. ↑ Stefan Wimmelbücker: return of McLaren BMW Mini: Frank Stephenson to be chief designer. In: www.automobilwoche.de. Automobilwoche, May 12, 2017, accessed on August 10, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Martin Jendrischik: Frank Stephenson heads the design team at Lilium Aviation. In: www.cleanthinking.de. cleanthinking, April 24, 2018, accessed August 10, 2018 .
  10. ^ Uygar Kilic: Frank Stephenson (McLaren) Interview by Uygar Kilic. January 19, 2012, accessed August 10, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Stephenson, Frank
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American car designer
DATE OF BIRTH 3rd October 1959