The passion that goes into boat and tender design

Creating unique and timeless yacht and tender designs can be a challenging task, especially with the high standards required in today’s superyacht industry. Yachting Pages is pleased to share an article featuring an interview with Bo Zolland from  design company Zolland Design AB. Bo gave an in depth introduction to his design company and elaborated on the industry they are a part of.

How would you describe Zolland Design and how did it all begin?

I have been a boater and drawing boats since childhood. I discovered early that I had a talent for proportions and lines that only comes when you’re boating a lot and understand how a boat should look and perform.

I have a degree in technical illustration and writing and in 2002 I started my own business after showing some designs on the internet. I got a lot of great feedback and decided after, that I would become a professional boat/tender/car/industrial designer full time.

 

How has Zolland Design developed since these early years?

At first it was mostly car designs and graphics for race teams, but now we do a wide range of designs from pleasure tenders, boats and cars, to racing boats. Zolland Design has also created animations of cars and boats.

In 2009 Zolland Design won a design competition and began working with Glastron Boats, a leading manufacturer of powerboats. It started with just the one boat, but then they wanted us to make a whole series of 16´- 25 ft boats; in the end we worked for them from 2009-2013.

 

How are you different from your competitors?

I’m a boating/automotive/retro kind of man by heart and I’ve been interested in these art forms all my life. As the Glastron design executive said when I won their competition to make their new series, “Bo is a boating guy and understands what we look for. He can find the soul and DNA of old Glastrons and blend them with modern lines like no one else.”

I won a secret competition they had with five design schools before I got the job. He also said at a big dealer meeting in US, “Bo never delivers what I expect, that’s why I love him” meaning that I deliver the creativity needed.

 

What challenges are you facing in the design industry?

The challenge is to come up with designs that look timeless and that’s what we’re good at. Many yachts today are stealthy and trendy, but what will we think of them in 10 or 20 years?

 

Any bizarre client request you’ve received?

I had a request for a superyacht in Dubai with a whole glass bottom. Unfortunately no one could build it.

 

Who would be your dream client?

 A dream client is someone that has a feeling for design and a strong passionate idea that we can develop. The best clients are the ones that are interested in design and want to follow the process along the way.

For more information please visit Zolland Design