A few weeks ago, we featured formfreu.de as our Web of the Week.  This blog has generated quite a buzz in design circles, most notably for its amazing photos and great attention to detail.  Formfreu is the brainchild of German designers Thomas Sälzle and Markus Haub.  They recently took a quick time out to talk to Car Design Fetish about their process, their vision, and what drives them as designers…

CDF:  Tell us a bit about your backgrounds.  Where are you from, and where did you go to school?

Markus Haub: I am from Mainz, near Frankfurt. I studied Transportation Design with Thomas at the University of Applied Sciences in Pforzheim. That‘s where we met back in 1993. Thomas is from Ulm in the South of Germany.

CDF:  Were you both always this interested in cars, or is this a passion that built over the years?

Thomas Sälzle: Yes, for sure. My passion for cars started with toys. I was always collecting car brochures from various local dealers my dad took me to. I remember the 1983 Fiat Uno having a big visual impact on me. The car was so different from all the other cars on the street. So clean, so light…

M: I‘ve always liked cars. I read all the magazines I could get, especially about sports cars like Ferraris or Lamborghinis. I was about 12 or 13 years old when I started drawing them. First I copied existing cars, then I started my own creations. I still have them stored somewhere.

T: I think I was sketching doodles in the magazines on top of the photos. This means I was transforming three-box-cars, for example, into fastbacks or station wagons or doing some kind of restyling (laughs).

CDF:  What provided the impetus for you to start FORMFREU.DE ?

M. : We always travel to all kinds of events and take pictures. The amount of photos was just getting bigger and bigger, so we were looking for a way to archive and share these photos.

T: There are so many cool things to capture – architecture, life in trendy cities like Berlin and Barcelona, fashion shows, some hip happenings, and of course, cars.

M: I remember talking about the project for a long time. One night out at a bar in Wiesbaden, the idea and the name was born. FORMFREU.DE, which means something like the enjoyment of shape. But also plays with the DE ending. The blog provides the perfect format for our idea.

T: That was the Haltbar Pub at Neugasse in Wiesbaden. We should go back there one day. I haven’t been in a while.

CDF:  The depth of your blog’s content is quite amazing.  How many people do you have working on your site?

M: Basically it’s just the two of us. Sometimes we have friends and contributors who provide us with special reports, like Simon Grand from Turin or Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani from Rome.

T: Fabrizio recently sent us some amazing pictures of Mille Miglia cars in an underground parking garage in Rome. Super cool!!

CDF:  What kind of cameras are you using to capture these photos?  Do you use any special lenses?

M: No, nothing special. I only used a small Casio Exilim and a Canon PowerShot for years. Just recently I bought a Nikon D5000. That increased the quality of the images quite a bit, but in general, I think that the camera is not the important thing. It’s the eye for the object and the situation.

T: Markus convinced me to buy the Nikon, too. And I love it! I am also surprised about the quality of pictures done with the iPhone. Somehow, they have a special feeling about them.

CDF:  Many of your galleries are presented in portrait format.  Is there a specific reason you tend to favor this orientation?

T: Maybe it’s just different and unexpected…Cars are usually photographed in horizontal format. Sometimes we focus more on details and composition. I like it better this way.

CDF:  When you attend a show or a gathering, what do you two look for when you’re taking photographs?  What catches your eye?

M: I try to look for the beauty in the object. The composition of the photo is very important. The backround, the sharpness, the color. The object itself becomes sometimes secondary. Beauty is everywhere..

T: Perfect explanation, Markus.  (smiles)

CDF:  How many events do you cover in a given year?

M: We don‘t count or plan. We usually attend Geneva, Frankfurt and Paris as car designers. But there are also classic car shows and other events. We don‘t go always together. Thomas lives in Germany and I live in Barcelona, so we also cover our local events. This way we get a large variety of stuff. Basically, it’s just a hobby.

CDF:  Are there any places or events that you haven’t visited that you’re dying to see?

M: I would really like to go to Goodwood Festival of Speed.  I have been to the Le Mans Classic, the Mille Miglia, the Pebble Beach Concours d elegance, but not Goodwood.  Someday…  And I would love to go to New York again. Last time I visited there was almost 10 years ago, so it’s time to go again.

T: We should definitely try to make the Mille Miglia next year.

CDF:  What has the reaction been to your work since the site was founded?

M: We‘ve gotten a lot of good feedback and we’ve also made some interesting contacts — like the guys from the German INTERSECTION magazine. Now we collaborate with them, write articles and share photos.

T: Every month our number of visitors grows – and it’s people from all over the world. The success also requires a lot of discipline our side in order to feed the website regularly with cool stuff.

CDF:  Of all the photo collections you’ve posted, do you have any personal favorites?

M: I liked our recent series of posts about the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este (see below). We had so much great material that we had to devide it into several sub-categories.

T: Markus took some amazing pictures at Hockenheim and the Nurburgring (see below).

I remember some exciting moments taking photos of the Bierpinsel building in Berlin or visiting the former Tempelhof Airport. These places are full of history.  Berlin is so inspirational to me. The best pictures are still on my harddisk and are waiting to be published! (laughs)

CDF:  Have you considered publishing a hardcover book of your photographs, as a sort of coffee table book?

M: Yes, this is still one of our favorite ideas. It‘s nice to have all the photos on the web, but we think a book would be a nice thing to have. We also thought about a magazine or even an exhibition. There are so many possibilities.

T: I think a book would be an interesting challenge; we could mix up pictures so there’s some cool and unexpected dialogue inbetween them. Markus and I also have a second project in the pipeline. We have been collecting hundreds of old pictures from flea markets that show people with their cars. Most of them are black and white. Taking photos at that time was only for very special moments. So you can really see the pride of the people in front of their own cars.  We would like to evaluate these moments and emotions and put together something really stunning.

CDF:  The bulk of your work concerns classic automotive details.  What are your feelings about the details found on automobiles sold today?

M:  Most of them are not so interesting. But maybe that‘s because you see them a lot on the street. Classic car details are rarer.

CDF:  What role or purpose do you believe details should play in the world of auto design today?

M: It’s not the main thing, but a nice car with bad detailing is a pity. On the other hand, nice details won’t help a bad car. The design should be coherent.  The love that went into the designing of the car should be apparent as well.

CDF:  Of all the auto companies out there, who do you think really understands the role that detail plays in design?

M: I think that Audi or Porsche pay a lot of attention to details and quality in general. Recently, I also found nice details on Ferraris, which are usually lacking in that respect. I remember the doorhandle of the Fiat Barchetta. Everybody talked about it. Or the Mini swichtes on the center console.

CDF: Who are your favorite automotive designers, past and present?

T: My heros are Hans Ledwinka (the man behind the streamlined Tatras of the 30s) and, of course, Giorgetto Giugiaro. From my times at Fiat I remember in particular Mike Robinson, today’s head of Stile Bertone – a great character and fantastic coach, encouraging and stimulating his designers with care and respect for their creativity.

M: If I have to pick one, it’s probably Giorgetto Giugiaro. The amount of great concepts and designs he’s done is just amazing, especially in the 70s. The Maserati Boomerang, the Bora, the BMW M1, the Lotus Esprit.. But also the De Tomaso Mangusta, or the De Lorean DMC-12 in the 80s. Or the Alfa Romeo Brera in 2002. I also had the luck to work at Design Center Europe (Volkswagen Group) with some outstanding designers, which I admire a lot. Jean-Pierre Ploue (who did the Renault Argos or Laguna concepts back in the 90s and the Renault Twingo I. He is today head of design at Citroen/Peugeot). Another designer was Davide Arcangeli, who has unfortunately passed away. He had an outstanding sense of proportion and volume and a beautiful drawing style. He designed the BMW 5er (E60) or the Peugeot 406 Coupe from 1996. I learned a lot from both, not least of which from their character. Later, while working at Renault I met fantastic designers like Stephane Janin, Francois Leboine or David Durand …there are so many more I could mention.

CDF:  Your tastes seem to be very wide ranging and eclectic, but are there any designs that you simply cannot stand?

M:  Carwise, I really dont like the Citroen Picasso (1999) and I never understood how it could be successful in the marketplace.  Also, some american cars of the 80s and 90s. It’s not my taste.

CDF:  What’s in the near future for FORMFREU.DE ?  Do you have a list of shows to attend this summer?

M: In the summer I will be in Germany, mainly. We will take part in the famous Sachsen Classic Rallye in August. I will also try to go to the Oldtimer GT at Nurburgring and some other events. And the Paris Motor Show is in October.

T: I am really looking forward to my trip to Berlin this week. The DMY Design Festival is taking place in the hangars of the former Tempelhof Airport, and there’s also the ILA Berlin Air Show in Schönefeld. And Berlin Fashion Week is coming soon…

CDF:  Do either of you have any advice for future or aspiring car designers?

M: I teach at the Instituto Europeo di Design school in Barcelona, so that question comes up often.  I think that they really, really have to love what they do. They also need talent, a good knowlege of cars and whats going on the the design field. You have to be aware of what the top level students are doing these days and what you will have to do to compete with them for a job. Its an international business, so good english is necessary. You might get a job outside of your home country.

CDF:  Will we see either of you in Detroit anytime soon?

M: I have no plans so far. It would be a big trip for me, and the Detroit show has lost a bit of its importance recently. But I have a good friend there, so that might be a good reason.

CDF:  Thank you both very much.

*all images used with the kind permission of formfreu.de