Design Portrait: Anders Warming (Head of MINI Design)

Official Release: Since December 2010, Anders Warming has held the post of Head of MINI Design. His career path has been the realisation of a childhood dream: Warming never wanted to do anything else but design cars. Barring a short gap, Danish-born Warming has spent his entire professional career with the BMW Group: from DesignworksUSA via BMW Design to MINI Design. The hallmark of his work is the greatest possible precision coupled with creativity. His aim is always to produce a virtuous equilibrium, be it between engineering skill and aesthetics, intellect and gut instinct, or hand and heart.

His philosophy: design as a skilled craft.

Anders Warming sees design as the perfect balance between engineering skill and aesthetics, and he believes art to be the link between these two poles. Only through art can design come into being. He views automotive design as a virtuosic handcraft in the literal sense – a work created by hand. That is why he assigns great importance to the sketching phase: in the development process the sketch is crucial to the entire shape of the design. Authenticity also plays a pivotal part in his work. The vision of a vehicle should be comprehensible and should speak to people not only on an intellectual but also an emotional level. He learnt his craft at two of the motor industry’s most famous training establishments: the Art Center College of Design in the Swiss town of Vevey and the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.

His source of inspiration: from Yesterday to Helter Skelter.

The plain-speaking and likeable Dane likes to draw inspiration from great artists who operate outside the world of design. Along with Picasso, these chiefly include musicians and bands like Miles Davis, Radiohead and The Beatles. The work of Liverpool’s Fab Four holds a special fascination for Anders Warming, and the ideal balance between the intellectual and artistic components in their music has become a model for his own work. It is above all the virtuosity and single-mindedness of Paul McCartney that inspires Warming and underpins his work. He does not believe the success of The Beatles was a coincidence; it was the declared aim of the band right from the outset. And so, from his admiration for the most successful pop group of all time, a parallel is slowly revealed with his own calling, which he regards as a gift – in both senses of the word.

On the personal side.

Anders Warming indulges his passion for music in his private life, too. He loves playing the guitar, and draws his creative strength from it. He also enjoys talking to young people who aspire to a career in car design, helping them by passing on his insights into the challenges of the industry. Anders Warming is married with four children and lives in Munich.