'5+1' with MINI's exterior designer Khrystyne Zurian

Meet MINI’s exterior designer Khrystyne Zurian. She not only gives us a great insight into her work at MINI and why the brand appeals to all genders, she also lets us know when her passion for cars started, which part of a car is her favourite as well as most challenging to design, how the exterior design has changed within the last ten years and how it will look like in 2030. Last but not least she tells us if during her career she has faced any disadvantage due to being a woman and how it looks in her team at MINI.

When it came time for me to choose a career path, it seemed almost natural that I would follow my dad and blend my passion for art and design with automotive.

1. When did your passion for cars begin and what was the first car you owned?

Growing up in Southern California, cars were a big part of our culture. Muscle cars, exotics, hot rods, I grew up around it all. I was always sketching as a kid and had my crayons and colour pencils in hand wherever I went. My favourite subjects in school were Art History and art/design classes. Although car design didn’t become a passion until after high school, I was exposed to the idea at a young age.

When I was a kid, my dad worked as a clay and digital sculptor at the GM Advanced Studio in Newbury Park, CA. In 1994, he founded TFX, where they specialised in the fabrication of feature film vehicles and concept cars for many of the studios in Southern California. When my brothers and I were really little he would bring us to the GM studio, and it was so inspiring to see all the chalk, marker, and airbrush sketches hanging on the walls and lying around on designers’ desks. By the time we were teenagers, we worked for him during our summer breaks at TFX, sanding down and laying up fiberglass parts. Getting to go to my dad’s shop was always exciting because there was always a cool car on the surface plate. The Kilmer and Clooney Batmobiles, the Fantastic 4 car, a few Acura NSXs. It was a creative environment that I wanted to be a part of. When it came time for me to choose a career path, it seemed almost natural that I would follow my dad and blend my passion for art and design with automotive. My two brothers also followed this path. My youngest brother Derek is a clay modeler, having experience in several Southern California car studios. And my other brother Dustin has worked as a fabricator on feature films and is with a California based EV company. 

I didn’t own my first car till I was 19 and until then I was driving my parent’s Chevy 4 door Dually and Dodge Ram V8 lifted crew cab.  We’re a truck family. Very American. When I was attending Art Center, I bought a new, red 2006 MINI Cooper S with a contrast black roof. It wasn’t exactly my first car, but it was the first car I owned that I had an emotional attachment to. It had so much character and personality and was a total blast to drive. This is what drove me to fall in love with the brand. 

2. You are an exterior designer of MINI. What are the iconic design elements and why does the design appeal to many women?

MINI is an icon itself. MINI has a responsibility to its heritage to respond to the needs of sustainable mobility. It’s distinctive proportions, short overhangs, clever use of space and go-kart stance are all characteristics that have been built with the same spirit of curiosity and innovation intended by the classic Mini. 

In our core character, the MINI Hatch, we do have several exterior icons that we cherish at MINI Design. The round headlights, the floating contrast roof, wrap around greenhouse and the hexagon grill are all iconic design elements that are clearly recognisable MINI. Throughout the portfolio, you can see how these elements have been reinterpreted while still staying true to the MINI core. 

I believe MINI appeals to all genders and has become more than a product, but an attitude. The thrill of driving is not just for men; women love motoring, too. MINI is an inclusive brand with a positive attitude and outlook on the future of mobility. It’s is an urban brand that creates emotion between car and driver, allowing a dynamic expression of one’s individuality. 

3. Is there any part of the MINI that you like designing most and what’s the most challenging part for you?

My favourite part doesn’t lie in the details of the exterior, but in the design process. At MINI, not only do we do all the production work, face lifts, details, but we also do all the advanced design within the team. This means all the preproduction work is done in-house. Before we start designing the actual production car, we propose several character and proportion models. These proposals challenge package requirements and proportions for new and current models, and influence the future strategy of the MINI portfolio. It’s not the highlighted work you see in public but the important foundation for the produced model. This is my favourite part of the job. Developing a character concept, form language, fighting for areas of optimisation and then seeing these themes in the production car is quite rewarding. 

The most challenging aspect of the job is developing new solutions while working around strict technical requirements. Challenging engineering and fighting for design is the toughest part of the process. 

4. How did in general the exterior design change within the last ten years? Where is the trend heading and what do you think how will it look like in 2030?

Within the last ten years, we’ve seen a number of startup companies advance the shift toward sustainable mobility. They’ve pushed the big OEMS to react at a faster pace. Electrification is already challenging vehicle architectures and manufacturing processes. We’re seeing advances in autonomous driving solutions and we are becoming more connected to the world outside while behind the wheel. With digitalisation and AI, cars are able to anticipate and respond to vehicle occupants’ needs and commands. We are seeing a shift in consumer mobility behaviour which is changing the idea of ownership. It’s an exciting time for innovation in automotive design. 

We are definitely heading into a more connected future. I would really like to see further advancement in manufacturing processes which could potentially reshape the way we build cars and further advance the architecture of safety requirements. 

5. As we all know, the automotive industry is still a male domain. Did you face any disadvantage due to being a woman? How does it look like in your team?

When I chose this career path, I knew that it would come with its challenges. While attending Art Center I felt that I was constantly being compared to my fellow female students, past and present. I think these insecurities followed me through to the first few years of my career.  When I started working for BMW, it was really overwhelming and I can honestly say that I felt way out of my league. There are so many talented designers in the studio. It took me quite some time to find confidence in my own abilities. When I switched to MINI, I broke out of that timid shell and it really came through in my work. The only disadvantages and obstacles I experienced were the ones I created for myself. 

I absolutely love my team. I believe the MINI team spirit is something special and you won’t find that in any other car studio. In our small exterior department, we are five designers and three project leaders led by our Head of Exterior Design Thomas Sycha. As I stated above, we are responsible for everything exterior. We are all very supportive and respectful of each other and when one has success, we all have success. It’s really a team effort to bring a car on the road. 

While the car industry is still male dominated, there are quite a few women that are rockin it. Michelle Christensen, Lili Melikian, Kerrin Liang, Uli Schafmeister, Anne Forschner, Eva Günther, Ana Zadnik, Tisha Johnson, Christine Park, Katharina Sachs, Lucia Lee, Tünde Lee just to name a few. Shout out to these kick ass women. I look forward to meeting many more.

And the +1 question from Khrystyne to you: “What does car ownership look like in the future of shared on demand mobility?”

Thank you Khrystyne for the great and inspiring talk.

Pictures: BMW Group
Interview: Britta Reineke