Car Design Podcast with AXEL BREUN | Crown Unfiltered Ep #56

Crown Unfiltered - Car Design Podcast

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VIDEO VERSION OF THIS:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dyqUGz0LoE

ABOUT AXEL:

Axel is an incredibly Creative Designer and a total anomaly.

He became a Car Designer through a series of interesting circumstances and never actually studied Design.

His father was an illustrator (primarily cars) and Axel followed in his steps. After a chance opportunity to design the Steinwinter Future Truck (Google it - insane! 🤯), Axel became obsessed with Car Design as a profession and tricked Patrick Le Quément’s P.A. into connecting them on the phone.

Shortly thereafter, Axel visited the studio in Dusseldorf (VW’s then Advanced Design Center) and was hired. This happened despite there not actually being any openings at the time! Patrick stated: 'Axel Breun was so talented that I hired him at the Design Düsseldorf studio whilst working at that time for the Volkswagen Group, budget or no budget!'

Le Quément left VW for Renault not long after hiring Axel and eventually the (then) young German Maverick followed.

Axel has been at Renault for over 30 years and has been the Design Director of Show/Concept Cars, Special Programs and Renault SAS.

He invited me to his beautiful home in Heidelberg, where we talked for almost 3 hours about his journey. I got to see so many incredible sketches, renderings, and models from various projects that span more than 3 decades.

The highlight for me was going for a drive in his Clio V6, which is a project I've become obsessed with. This particular car is priceless, not because Axel designed it, but because it was almost shredded by the company. After a series of discussions, Axel was allowed to buy the car and it became chassis number 001!

This is the first time since the Anders Warming episode (Christmas) that we have recorded a show in person and it was great to do it again. There is everything to be said for the energy in the room when two people are sitting face to face.

Listening to Axel talk is captivating and I got to sit front row!!!

FIND AXEL HERE:

https://www.instagram.com/axel.fr/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/axel-breun-10060123/

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ABOUT ME:

I am a South African Designer, Digital Modeller and the host of Crown Unfiltered. I will be talking to a cross section of people that work in the Car Design Industry.

These will include designers, digital and clay modellers, vis artists and colour & material designers. The focus of our conversations will be centered around personal processes and experiences within the business. My aim is to demystify some of the preconceptions about this industry and give people an unadulterated glimpse into the business.

I also wish to give the younger generation the opportunity to see that the people that these professionals come in different shapes and sizes and some of them will be unknown. The intention is to see that you should always be yourself and not let your job define or change who you are.

Please get in contact if there is something specific you would like me to cover. I would also be really grateful if you could subscribe and share the podcast with anyone that has an affinity for cars, design or both. Thank you! Sam

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