We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Mark Stehrenberger. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Mark below.
Mark, so many exciting things to discuss, we can’t wait. Thanks for joining us and we appreciate you sharing your wisdom with our readers. So, maybe we can start by discussing optimism and where your optimism comes from?
I’m the luckiest guy on the planet for at a very early age already I recognized my passion for automobiles. And I followed it with determination: I became a car designer. I’m sure my father owning seven cars had something to do that the blood in my veins turned to gasoline as a toddler already. I did my first car doodles at age three and could then already tell the names of cars by the sound of their engines.
I’m still very actively designing cars primarily for people in the movie and music industries. I’ve also illustrated and painted exotic cars, and over the years my illustrations have been featured regularly in 50+ printed and digital magazines and books worldwide. My automotive fine art paintings hang in many private and corporate galleries and car museums in the U.S. and Europe.
Not always an easy task, I nevertheless regarded my work more as a hobby. That made me what I am today, a happy camper with an optimistic outlook on life. I don’t do drugs or drink: At my age (82), I get the same effect just from standing up too fast from a sitting position. Ha, I remember the Whirlybirds and Fireball XL5, for Heaven’s sake!
I wish my marriages had been as successful as my career, but I’m very proud of my four kids who follow in their father’s and mother’s footsteps and made their own names. I want my six grand children to have all the things I could not afford BECAUSE of them. Then I want to move in with them. However, the last thing I want to do is to bankrupt them.
…But it’s still on my bucket list. Ha ha…
Bottomline: All good reasons to have a very optimistic outlook!
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I’m a Swiss-born designer, living alternately in beautiful Oxnard,CA, (a.k.a. Bakersfield-by-the-Sea!) and nice-nice Montreux, Switzerland, (a.k.a. Swiss Riviera) on Lake Geneva. I’ve established an international reputation for cutting-edge design in varied fields, from cool concept cars, furniture, lighting, video games, robotics and medical devices (how cool can THAT be?), to young people’s fashion clothing and accessories, cool swim wear, jewelry, cool wrist watches, eye wear, and sports shoes, even mega-cool novelty fun products you absolutely have to have before you die.
I also like the word “cool”, I’m sure you noticed.
But my passion is car design and development. My intimate knowledge of the auto design field, gained from over fifty years of experience on four continents, has made me a much sought-after keynote speaker, commentator and influencer. My work has been featured in television segments and magazine articles in many countries and I’ve written, produced and moderated various radio and television shows in the U.S. Asia and Europe. I’ve been conducting on-site workshops in design studios, relating to car design, future trends, etc. and also been teaching car design at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA, and Art Center (Europe) in Vevey, Switzerland, for over fifteen years (1987-2002).
Man, they even awarded me “Car Man of the Year” in Switzerland in 2015 which netted me an invitation for breakfast with the president of my birth country. How cool was that.
At present, I’m also actively researching and developing proprietary food products and marketing concepts. For example: Why does Swiss cheese have holes in it? Because they use whole milk! Duh… And whatever happened to the holes in Swiss cheese? They are for sale abroad as healthy snacks or fingerfood in the form of cocktail cheese balls.
Three or four times a year, my automotive art is exhibited at car shows and art galleries of my choosing. Over time, I retained the copyrights to all my illustrations and non-commissioned artwork and kept the originals, resulting in a sizable archive of limited edition prints and originals for sale. And of course, this guy is always accepting commissions, as I like to draw other people’s exotic rides!
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
1. Conceiving and visualizing ideas and things that don’t yet exist, and bringing them to paper, a prerequisite for a successful designer.
2. Being curious and open-minded, constantly learning new things and not being afraid to try new, untried ways. Thinking outside of the box.
3 .Having a great sense of humor, and not taking oneself too seriously. Follow your passion and work hard on it, but enjoy life. Work to live, not live to work.
Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?
My Swiss family tree goes back to 1604. Ever since, the male Stehrenbergers were builders and very proud of their craft and tradition. My parents, too, had a construction company. Enter WW2: While my father stood in uniform defending Switzerland’s borders from the Nazis, my mother took matters in hand and, with a crew of four, ran the business so as not to interrupt the long tradition. Fast forward to 1959 when I informed my parents I wanted to become not a builder but a designer. Obviously, all hell broke loose.They let me do an apprenticeship in fashion design anyway, but the ensuing four years were hell on earth as I lived at home and had to listen to all kinds of derogatory talk.
But it did ONE thing for which I’m grateful to my parents: It made me determined and hell-bent committed to prove to them, and the world, that I could accomplish great things in my line of work. I graduated #1 in fashion design in my region and was offered to run a prominent fashion house in Basel, Switzerland. However, I had other plans. After emigrating to the US in 1964, I switched to study car design (my true passion) and opened my own design studio in 1969. With hard work, determination and a healthy amount of acquired business savvy, Mark Stehrenberger Design became well-known in the design industry.
After. learning what and how his son was doing, my father did a 180 degree turn and became my most enthusiastic fan and spoke person, to the point that it almost became embarrassing for me. He couldn’t stop praising his fave son! In the process all was forgiven ultimately, and we became best friends until his passing at 99 years in 2007.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: msd_auto
- Facebook: Mark Stehrenberger, Fireballtimgarage.art/Stehrenberger
- Linkedin: Mark Stehrenberger
- Youtube: Mark Stehrenberger
- Other: [email protected]
Image Credits
All picture credits: Mark Stehrenberger Design
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
