Klaus Tritschler is the Vice President of Design at ICON Aircraft, a California startup that has garnered international acclaim for bringing world-class design to recreational flying. Combining his passion for powersports and design excellence with his extensive industry experience, Klaus has been instrumental in developing a groundbreaking product that is more frequently compared to exotic sports cars than conventional aircraft.

Recruited by ICON’s co-founders in early 2011, Klaus built ICON’s in-house design team and led the creative direction, planning, and execution of the A5’s interior and exterior design. He also spearheaded development of the A5’s user experience, color and materials, and conceptual interior engineering. With customer deliveries approaching, Klaus is now charged with developing consistent visual expressions of brand across all product, merchandise and communication materials.

Prior to joining ICON, Klaus was an integral part of the creative leadership team at BMW Group DesignworksUSA, leading strategy and execution of design solutions for premium transportation. Several projects were recognized with design awards, including the innovative Embraer Phenom 100 and 300, regarded as the first aircraft to bring modern luxury to a business jet interior; the Intermarine 42 and 55 luxury yachts, which introduced a new construction technique that enabled the dynamic automotive surfacing in the hull design; and the award-winning BMW F800S and ST motorcycles, which Klaus designed in 2003.

Klaus received his BA in Industrial Design from the University of Wuppertal in Germany in 1993, and launched his design career at Johnson Controls’ Automotive Division before moving to California in 1994. He currently resides in Malibu.

The first production ICON A5, Engineering Serial Number 1 (ESN-1) was flown for the first time on 7 July 2014.

ICON A5: Number 01

The aircraft is almost 100% weight conscious carbon fiber.

A5 Interior

ICON A5 full size clay model.

The vinyl wrap projects the engineering onto the skin of the aircraft.

Intermarine 55. BMW Designworks/USA.

Intermarine 55 flybridge and main deck. BMW Designworks/USA.

Tritschler headed up the interior design of the Embraer Phenom 100 and 300 business jets. BMW Designworks/USA.

Embraer Phenom 100 interior. Red dot, IF and Good Design Awards. BMW Designworks/USA.

Tritschler designed the F800 S and F800 ST as part of the BMW team in Munich. Red dot, IF and Good Design Awards. BMW Motorrad.

BMW F800 ST