Geely Design magazine

Geely Design magazine

Geely Design, part of Chinese manufacturer Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, asked Car Design News to create a bespoke magazine in time for the Shanghai Motor Show. The magazine was for distribution to press and VIPs, showcasing the breadth and depth of Geely’s design capabilities, across its studios in China, Europe and the United States.

I was commissioned to create the editorial, working alongside freelance magazine designer Pete Avery, photographer Andrew Shaylor and the CDN production team in London.

At 92 pages plus covers the magazine was a substantial undertaking. Over a period of a few weeks I interviewed key staff in Barcelona, Los Angeles and Shanghai by phone, and also travelled to Sweden for a couple of days to visit the Geely Design studio in Gothenburg.

Geely Design magazine pages

In all I interviewed 15 different individuals, including global design boss Peter Horbury, the heads of each studio, as well as leaders and team members from the various disciplines such as interior design, exterior design, colour & materials, user experience and advanced design.

During this research phase I worked with CDN editor-in-chief Chris Maillard to shape the flatplan for the magazine.

The interviews provided about 50,000 words of raw material but of course it was vital to dig out meaningful stories from the mountain of text, giving each section, feature and interview a structure and purpose within the magazine as a whole.

Geely Design magazine pages

Across eight sections and 18,000 words I tried to tell the story of Geely Design’s genesis, development, mission, skills, experience, and vision – while also aiming to get across the very different personalities of all the people I’d spoken to.

I understand the client was delighted with the result. Apparently Peter Horbury has hand-signed 1,000 copies, a task I’m not sure I’d fancy.

Key quote
“Geely offered a great opportunity to create something completely new and I grabbed it ... I’d have retired by now if I’d stayed at Volvo, but this has given me a second wind”
Peter Horbury, senior vice president for design, Geely