Marek Reichman – The Aston Martin Designer
Marek Reichman was born in Sheffield, England in 1966, he received his BA in industrial design in 1989 at Teesside Polytechnic, based in Middlesbrough, England. He is also said to have attended Teesdale University in Newcastle where he graduated with a first class honors degree in industrial design and specifically vehicle design. He also studied vehicle design at the royal College of Art in London. After graduation, he began working for the Rover Group in Coventry England. In this position, he helped design and develop Rover’s flagship vehicles. In 1995, he joined BMW Designworks USA in California. He worked there as a Senior Designer and when BMW acquired Rover Group, he led the overhaul of the Land Rover design for future models, the most significant being the completely redesigned 2003 Land Rover. In 1998, he moved back to London to establish a London based design studio that was capable of producing full sized models.
In 1999, he moved to Ford and worked as a chief designer. The position he held was Director of Design for Product, Interior Design Strategy and Process. In that position, he led various advanced and production design programs. His position also put him to work under their Lincoln and Mercury divisions. Because he worked under these sub divisions, he had his first contact with Aston Martin. Ford Motor Company group vice president of Design and Chief Creative officer J. Mays was not happy to see him go as Marek has proven himself in a variety of design jobs throughout the company in the six years he spent with them. He was however, pleased to see a new chapter open up in Marek’s career life, allowing him to utilize his unique perspectives on British design.