The Designers Pt 12: Tisha Johnson, Volvo

“We want to fix the part of driving that is broken”

That’s what I’m so happy about the Concept 26, because we want people to drive. We all know that commuting is terrible and it’s only getting worse so why suffer through it? If we finally have technology that can meet the problem, let’s just get on with it. Some futurists are very dark and people are drawn to science fiction films where it’s like some doomsday scenario, because people are scared of what they don’t know. But it’s pretty exciting to me. And I don’t think I’m totally mad, I’m an optimist.

I was on a discussion panel recently at Art Center College of Design sitting next to Chris Bangle – who is a total visionary – but in the audience were a lot of car enthusiasts with a lot of worries about the industry. About autonomous driving and that the industry isn’t keeping pace and can it keep us safe? Is it adopting technology that isn’t really a good thing for people? But I had a different perspective which is I think that it’s a super-exciting time to be a car designer. I know it’s exciting to be at Volvo, but I think this is a really good time because the ideas can finally be met with the technology.

Ten years ago we really struggled because we had this antiquated technology. It’s an interesting subject to me because I am a motorcycle enthusiast. I just got back from Sweden so I will be getting another Ducati. I’ve always ridden a Monster, but now I’m thinking about the Scrambler. It’s my big brother’s fault. If my parents had known they would have been mortified. I was just a little kid and a friend of his, five years older than me, rolled up on his scooter and I just wanted to ride and my brother said ‘Okay, you can go around the corner’. And you know they say these things when you are young really imprint. That throttle… that was it. I haven’t talked about that in years. I get chills remembering that feeling. It’s such a great thing to ride a bike and I’ve ridden many and could talk for days about it. But the point is: we don’t have to give anything up.

I don’t have children but the Excellence Lounge Console concept shown in Shanghai in 2015 and the child seat version revealed later that year in Gothenburg, are personal to me because they’re really important for our customers. It’s a family car so it’s nice to work on something that resonates in so meaningful a way. They were both the culmination of project work I managed from start to finish from the design side. They’re connected to Volvo’s roots but the thing that was extra special was getting a deeper hold in the luxury segment. It’s pretty clear the XC90 is a step up in the market. Those concepts took a deeper look at luxury but still through a Volvo lens.

“For the first time since I’ve been a designer we have the best platform available for the right proportions to make beautiful cars”

The global monitoring and concept centre in California where I work is more than R&D because it includes a variety of different disciplines from business and advanced engineering to consumer insights and market strategy. There are a few disciplines that come together to form advanced and strategic work but then we also, in parallel, work on design production projects from the pre-production phase. If something we are working on is incorporated into a full production project we go to Sweden. Our team is not big. There’s seven of us but the team’s composition has changed recently. We’ve always had exterior designers and typically if I was there we’ve had interior represented. Now we’ve added user interface and I’m super excited about that. I’m recruiting to double our team’s size. We really need to increase the number of interior and user interaction designers.

It took us a little while to find the right profile of person because in [nearby] Silicon Valley, it’s big dollars and there’s a whole lot of allure to being there. But we noticed candidates are pretty excited about our cars and brand now too so we aren’t having trouble getting people with the right talent to talk to us. The brand has clear momentum. For the first time since I’ve been a designer we have the best platform available for the right proportions to make beautiful cars. We have investment for the cars so we can layer with the proper materials. Basically we can make the cars they’ve always wanted. We have design leadership in Thomas Ingenlath, he’s fantastic. You know you’re onto something when design students want to ‘intern’ with you.

We say we’re in the Los Angeles area but we are actually based in Ventura which is a little north. It’s like a renaissance for Volvo. That word can sound kind of old but the brand is really becoming cutting-edge. First of all the designs are beautiful now, but with the incorporation of the user experience, our technology with the touchscreen, it’s totally taking us to another level.

Tisha Johnson

Role Volvo senior director of design, global monitoring and concept centre
Nationality American
Location California, USA
Education Art Center, Pasadena, USA

Tisha’s cars of 2015

Concept
1. Porsche Mission E
2. Bentley EXP 10 Speed 6
3. Peugeot Fractal

Production
1. Jaguar F-Pace
2. Alfa Romeo Giulia
3. Ford GT

Car Design Review 3

This interview is taken from the Car Design Review 3 yearbook. Published annually by the writers of Car Design News, the book rounds up all of the major car-design trends seen in the past 12 months, counts down the best production and concept car designs of the year and features interviews with 18 of the best car designers working today, plus an in-depth interview with Syd Mead, this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award winner.