66 years after its debut, the Mini is still her. “When you get your hands on such an iconic object, the challenge becomes even more interesting,” says Thomas Sycha, Mini’s head of exterior design. “We wanted to innovate while maintaining the high recognisability of this model and so we kept the round headlamp design, but enlarged the grille surround, which now seems to smile. Sympathy is another of Mini’s key elements as well as soft shapes,” Sycha continues. “Inspired by our history, we developed a new styling language that defines our DNA. We’ve called it Charismatic Simplicity: the idea is for a design that gives each new Mini model a strong, individual character and is characterised by a simple, minimalist design language that intuitively focuses on the essential elements of the brand,” says Oliver Heilmer, head of Mini design.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
![](\"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/P90527266_highRes_mini-cooper-se-10-20.jpg\")
<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>“Inspired by our history, we have developed a new design language that defines our DNA. We have called it Charismatic Simplicity: the idea is for a design that gives each new Mini model a strong, individual character and is characterised by a simple, minimalist design language that intuitively focuses on the essential elements of the brand,” says Oliver Heilmer, head of Mini design.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>