Fisker Feature: Meet Director of Exterior Design Seunghee Oh

One of the first ten employees hired by Fisker Inc., Seunghee Oh is living her California dream while working for a unique car company. Since starting in 2019, she's risen to become Fisker's Director, Exterior Design, working closely with world-renowned car designer and CEO Henrik Fisker. Seunghee always wanted to live in California, but it took a late-night call from Henrik himself to make her dream come true. And that was just the beginning of her journey, as she explains.

You took a risk, moving to the US from South Korea to break into automobile design here. But you had plenty of encouragement, correct?

I was working for Hyundai, but I wanted to be in California, so I applied for a job at General Motor' studio in the state. But when the offer came, it was for Michigan! I hesitated, but my mother convinced me to make the move. I also thought it would be easier to get to California from the Midwest. That was in 2011, so it took me a while longer than I expected. I even relocated to Las Vegas to be closer, but I went back to Michigan in 2015 to take the Ford job.

How is your experience working for Fisker? We are a very California car company!

I grew up in South Korea, and my hometown of Busan is well-known for beautiful beaches, so ever since I moved to the US in 2011, it has been my dream to live in California. When I lived in Michigan and worked at GM and Ford, I learned a lot about car design and met wonderful people. I traveled to California whenever I had time off and kept trying to move whenever I found a design job opening. I had almost given up. But then, late on a Saturday night a couple of years ago, I got a call. It was Henrik! He asked me if I could start working the following week. It was a totally unexpected offer, and the timing was challenging, but I just said yes – and left all my stuff in Michigan!

What is the most significant difference working at Fisker after being at a traditional automaker?

Working directly with the CEO, who is also a design legend, is the most significant change. I was used to a system with many management layers, so the biggest surprise was how fast Henrik makes a design decision – right away, sometimes with just some rough sketches. In addition, he's open to ideas from any member of the team. "Great design is timeless," Henrik told me when I started. "Think outside the box, and don't be afraid to try something new. It may not work, but one of 100 ideas will."

Were there any professional challenges?

When we had a major design deadline last year, I wasn't getting much sleep and was working long hours. But I wasn't alone. The routine was the same for our entire team. I checked my emails at night, which was tough because I usually get 100 emails every day. But the engineers often got back to me right away, and they were in entirely different time zones. I'm so thankful for their support. Creating a new car truly is a team effort.

What happened when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020?

Henrik traveled a lot before COVID, so most of our communication happened through some of those numerous emails I dealt with each day. This was a different design process for me because I usually reviewed sketches on-site with my teams. I had to simplify my renderings since we weren’t in person. Henrik sketches on his tablet so I could get feedback in less than an hour. Sometimes in two minutes! It wasn't easy for me initially, but I realized it was the best way once I got used to it. And after COVID, it was easier to adapt to working from home. You must be open-minded to everything. 

But we have retained some of the more traditional design processes, right?

There is one activity that Fisker will never give up: clay modeling. I asked Henrik if he was interested in switching to 3D computer models, and his answer was, "No!" He always likes to check surfaces and highlights on full-size clay models, and many magical moments have happened with this process. We're all learning from Henrik. He comes to the Los Angeles design studio almost every day. Sometimes twice a day!

You're one of two female design leaders at Fisker, along with Nadya Arnaout, our Sr. Director, Interior Color & Design. The automotive world is rather male-dominated, so how does this help Fisker stand apart?

We need more female leaders in the auto industry. I've gotten two promotions since I started, so we are obviously a pacesetter here. And I have a unique background. Most car designers dreamed about their careers when they were young. But I was more interested in graphic design and architecture, and this has become my strongest inspiration to think outside the box for car design.

Hyundai, GM, Ford – you've worked at some big car companies. But we have less than 500 employees. I gather you think that's an advantage.

The opportunity to contribute is open to everyone. In many meetings, teams freely share ideas or feedback. At a typical big organization, you tend to work on a limited design project because there are many designers on staff. But at Fisker, we're lean, so you contribute to multiple projects simultaneously. For example, I helped develop Fisker's merchandise with our marketing team, like clothing and water bottles. I've also worked with our user experience and user interface groups. I just spent an intense week in Austria with a team of Fisker engineers and their counterparts from Magna, the company that will build the Ocean next year.

Not only did you move to California for Fisker – you met your husband when the company unveiled the Ocean SUV at CES in 2020!

That's right! I was at the Fisker booth in Las Vegas, answering questions, and many Koreans stopped by. On the third day, a guy asked me about the brand. He was impressed that I participated in the project, so we naturally started talking about everything in Korean and became good friends after the show. We met in Vegas, and we got married in Vegas this year! Sometimes, if you work hard, you get a surprise life gift as a bonus. I can't wait to take wedding anniversary photos in front of the Fisker Ocean in 2022.

It sounds like joining Fisker is working out better than you could imagine.

My longtime dream was doing automotive exterior design and living in sunny California with my life partner. All have come true through Fisker. But I think there are many more exciting things to come. We started as a small team, and it's fascinating to see how we're growing. We're planning to unveil the production-intent version of the Ocean at the LA Auto Show in November, and we have new cars coming later. The whole reason I love California is the Pacific, so when we named our first vehicle the Ocean, I felt this journey was meant to be.