I had a Pinktastic afternoon the other day. I was invited out to take a look at the all new Buick Enclave plus meet the Director of Design. My assistant Pia and I pulled up to the Twelve Hotel at Atlantic Station,where the General Motor staff was there to greet us. The first thing we saw were 2 luxury crossover SUV’s . I liked the two colors and how they glistened with all the sunshine. It was a beautiful day for a test drive too.
2011 Buick Enclave
Director of Design Michael Burton and I
I was introduced to a very sophisticated gentlemen from Detroit,Michigan named, Michael Burton. I was very impressed on how well dressed he was. He told me he was the Director of Design for General Motors. I said, “wow, what a cool job!”. I was sent a few links and a bio about Michael and he also starred in one of Buick’s commercials in 2007. I started asking questions on how he landed the starring role.
Michael was very happy for the opportunity and said, “it was very cool”. They filmed for 5 days in Encino,California at a 7 million dollar mansion! He did a lot of creative directing in the commercial, picking out the vehicles used, the scenes and made sure they added his obsession with watches. He has lots of them and he was wearing a great Hamilton piece at or meeting.
He then talked with us about the Enclave and how he came up with the interior design. He spoke of how the car is very curvacious, the seats fold down for more cargo space, the arm rests, rear counsel, tambor doors, cup holders all with the very busy consumer in mind.
Loved Michael’s cuff links and arm candy lol
I was being funny and asked Michael why car designers don’t make more pink cars or bright colors. He told me, well the mass majority of consumers really wouldn’t buy a car in those particular colors,(he chuckled when I asked him that). There is a small market for them but most of their customers are conservative when purchasing a vehicle. He did inform me that they have designed pink cars for Mary Kay.I agree but had to ask, lol! I still want a pink car…ha! He told me that they look at trends to see what colors are fashionable and they take all that into consideration when designing.
Michael Burton has been with General Motors for over 11years with a degree in Industrail Design and has a Masters Degree in Organizational Management. I really enjoyed spending my afternoon with him. Enjoy Michael’s video below that aired June 2007-2008. Thanks to the pr team from GM, for inviting me out, I had a great time learning about Interior design and meeting Micheal!
