You are responsible for the design of the new bus generation at Daimler Buses, what does this entail?
Omnibus Magazine
Designing buses and touring coaches with customers in mind.
Interview with Stefan Handt, Head of Design at Daimler Buses.
Designing buses and touring coaches with customers in mind.
Stefan Handt and his team are shaping the new generation of buses at Daimler Buses. We talk to him about creative processes and customer-focused design.
It is of course a great honour for me to work on this challenging task, something that can only be achieved with teamwork. As the head of an independent and heterogeneous team, it’s important to give everyone as much space and time as possible to foster a creative working atmosphere. This makes a major contribution to our creative work and processes.
Where do you start when you design a bus?
For me personally, a creative process starts with a kind of dream. I close my eyes and, for example, imagine myself standing by the touring coach, looking forward to my long-awaited city break to Rome. I picture myself next to it: handing over my luggage, climbing on board the touring coach with my rucksack, and then I think to myself: Yes, my holiday should start here on the touring coach – not once I’ve reached my holiday destination.
“The holiday should start on the touring coach – not once the holiday destination is reached.”
What is particularly important to you and your team during the design process?
We always have to put ourselves in the shoes of our customers. Especially because we are talking about different groups of people here. On the one hand, our customers are bus operators, but bus drivers and bus passengers must also be taken into account – for both scheduled-service buses and touring coaches. Everyone’s needs, wishes and ideas must be reflected in the design.
“When it comes to buses, we have several customers: bus operators, bus drivers and passengers.”
And what does your work with your team look like in practice?
We work a lot with mood boards. These are visual representations of our design concepts, into which we also incorporate social and political trends. For example, the interior design of an electric touring coach must be calm and relaxing in order to emphasise the low-noise ride.
And approximately how long does it take from the first draft to the final bus design?
This varies, but it can take three to four years from the first concrete idea and the hand-drawn design to the end of the complete design process. That’s why I love cooking in my private life as a balance. It quickly delivers results!
We all know that good designs get copied. How do you feel about coming across blatant copies of your work on other vehicles?
It always triggers mixed feelings in me. On the one hand, it is of course a confirmation of our good work and proves that we have done a lot of things right. On the other, it annoys me that the people behind these fakes are filling their own pockets with our creative work. This is particularly dramatic for safety-relevant parts. That is why we at Daimler Buses take consistent action against counterfeit products in order to protect our customers from plagiarism.
