Podcast Archives

Maximilian Missoni on Polestar Cars’ Design Ethos

Eric Gallina — Wed, 04 Aug 2021 08:18:00 +0000

Maximilian Missoni has been head of design for Polestar Cars since 2018. After joining Volvo Cars 2012 and subsequently being promoted to VP of exterior design in 2014, it was a natural progression for Missoni to become Polestar’s design director following Thomas Ingenlath’s appointment as CEO of the premium electric vehicle brand. In this candid FORCMAST interview, Missoni speaks with Eric Gallina about his career path — from the early days of discovering design, his time as a student at […]

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Anna Costamagna on Experience Design, Diversity and Design Management

Eric Gallina — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 08:39:00 +0000

Anna Costamagna is an Italian Interior Design Manager working at Peugeot and Advanced Design Manager for Stellantis. While her mother worked as an assistant to Sergio Pininfarina, she was initially drawn to fashion design before venturing down the path in automotive. She began her career at Bertone in Caprie, a suburb of her native Turin, after studying engineering and management at the acclaimed Politecnico di Torino. Costamagna then moved to Paris, France, to bring Peugeot production cars to fruition. Despite […]

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Amko Leenarts – Chasing a Dream and Car Design Challenges

Eric Gallina — Wed, 12 May 2021 08:21:00 +0000

Amko Leenarts has been a designer at Ford since 2012. Prior to that, he led Interior Design for the Peugeot brand in France. Now Head of Design for Ford of Europe, Leenarts has had a wealth of experience on two continents, speaking different languages and leading teams that create vehicles for different segments in different markets. In this FORMCAST podcast Amko spoke with me about his time as an architect, pursuing his dream of designing cars and the difficult early […]

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FORMCAST – Recap of the New Car Designs Unveiled in April 2021

Eric Gallina — Wed, 28 Apr 2021 08:05:00 +0000

The Shanghai motor show opened its doors to the public recently, showing an immense array of new vehicles. While the debuts from Chinese carmakers are numerous, there were also some noteworthy new car launches from European, US-based and Japanese manufacturers looking to tap into the world’s largest car market. In this FORMCAST episode, Eric Gallina and Sam Livingstone discuss these foreign carmaker debuts, including some new vehicles specifically designed with Chinese customers in mind. Have a look at all of the […]

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The Female Design Team Behind Lucid Motors

Eric Gallina — Thu, 15 Apr 2021 16:29:46 +0000

Automotive design is a largely male-dominated profession, but nascent electric vehicle manufacturer Lucid Motors is not your typical car company. Form Trends editor Eric Gallina speaks with Joann Jung, Sue Magnusson, and Jenny Ha – the interior design director, CMF design director, and exterior design manager, respectively – who are working to develop the California startup’s new line of vehicles. This conversation takes us down various paths speaking about each of these wonderful ladies’ backgrounds, the Lucid brand, and the […]

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Automotive Historian Brian Baker on the Sedan Typology

Eric Gallina — Thu, 01 Apr 2021 12:40:09 +0000

Sedans (or saloons) have always played a part in the automotive landscape. They are a practical and dependable vehicle format. But where did the name sedan come from? What is its history? And is there any life left in the three-box vehicle typology in the future? To answer these questions (and more), Form Trends contributor Pierre-Paul Andriani (who also happens to be Senior Manager for Digital Modeling at Tata Motors’ European Design Center) invited his longtime friend Brian Baker, VP […]

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Pierre Leclercq, Citroen Head of Design – Round Trip Ticket

Eric Gallina — Wed, 20 Jan 2021 10:00:00 +0000

Pierre Leclercq is Citroen’s Head of Design. He’s worked in Italy, California, Germany, China, and Korea before returning to France and joining PSA. Leclercq’s career path is interesting but also unique: he managed to return to a high-level role in Europe after spending four years building several car brands and growing the team ten-fold at Great Wall Motors in China. In this episode, Pierre Leclercq speaks with Form Trends founder Eric Gallina about his early career working at coachbuilders Zagato […]

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Bugatti Design Head of Special Projects, Nils Sajonz, on the Car Design Process

Eric Gallina — Tue, 05 Jan 2021 09:50:00 +0000

Nil Sajonz is just 27 years old, but he’s already moved up from interning at Bugatti Design to his new role as Head of Special Projects for the superluxury performance car brand. I spoke with him about his journey, the projects he’s worked on, the car design process and the Bugatti Bolide, Molsheim’s latest track focussed hypercar. We recorded this video (above) in late November but I only got through the painstaking edit this week. Hopefully you’ll enjoy watching all […]

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Rivian Design VP Jeff Hammoud on Starting Fresh and Brand Identity

Form Trends — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 09:00:00 +0000

Rivian is a start-up manufacturer blazing the path for electric trucks in the North American market, which leads the world in pickup truck sales. Eric Gallina spoke with Jeff Hammoud, the company’s VP of Design, to find out more about the processes, opportunities and challenges the team has encountered and overcome behind the scenes. As always, you can find the FORMCAST podcast on all the major streaming services below and many more. And, if you’d like to see our faces […]

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Chris Bangle on Life and Design Management

Eric Gallina — Wed, 02 Dec 2020 12:30:40 +0000

Chris Bangle is not a man in need of an introduction. Controversial and opinionated, he’s made a name for himself by supporting his team and creating emotional designs. In this episode, Eric Gallina talks with him about his history, management systems and the zeitgeist. Here’s a breakdown on the talking points for those who wish to skip through: 0:00 – Intro and meeting Chris 4:20 – Insulting Chris 5:05 – Reacting to animosity 8:50 – the job of a Design […]

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Lucid Design VP Derek Jenkins on Building a Brand

Eric Gallina — Wed, 11 Nov 2020 09:00:28 +0000

Derek Jenkins has a rich history in the automotive design arena. Now VP of Design at California electric luxury vehicle start-up Lucid Motors — and having recently revealed the production version of the new brand’s first car, the Air — we decided to speak with him about the past, present and future of the new automotive brand for this episode of FORMCAST. As always, you can find the FORMCAST podcast on all the major streaming services below and many more. […]

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Sam Livingstone on Delivering Value Through Design

Eric Gallina — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 11:13:39 +0000

I’ve known Sam Livingstone for a number of years — 15 to be exact. Over that time span, I’ve been continually impressed by his perspectives on automotive design and his ability to dissect products and strategies. This is a skill set he’s procured over his many years as director of Car Design Research, a UK-based consultancy that works with many of the world’s largest car companies. For this episode of FORMCAST I decided to record our conversation — which touches on […]

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