I follow many accounts on Instagram and Facebook. There are many builders and brands that have created electric motorcycles in all possible creative forms and shapes. The industry is growing at full speed as we speak, but who are the creators/designers of all the bikes out there? I’ve been following Pablo Baranoff Dorn for a while now and got curious about who he was, as I’m just as impressed every time something new from him as I scroll by. I contacted him to see if he wanted to tell his story. All the text is written by himself.
Who are you? Pablo Baranoff Dorn:
The selling line would be, I am a multidisciplinary designer. 3D products and industrial design concepts are my strongest areas, with a wide range of skills that combine innovative art and design principles. In addition, Pablo Baranoff Dorn’s expert knowledge of Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Indesign, Maxon Cinema 4D, Blender 3D, Fusion 360, Final Cut Pro, Zbrush Pixologic, Fusion 360, and other tools allows me to play a crucial role in the implementation of graphic design, 3D characters, illustrations, and packaging.
Pablo Baranoff Dorn thinks that I have talent and I am self-taught in what I do, so when a client asks me something, I know how to deliver good projects and I try to adapt to their needs. For design, I use MacOS because it simplified my workday and I could focus on a project. I am curious, smart, and focused. Even if I am a freelancer, I do a team job. I am the art director, the sketch artist, the graphic designer, the engineer, and the 3D visualizer. I love it. you can also read about Luke Robins Electric Motorcycle Design here.
What got you interested in electric motorcycles from the beginning?
When I was 14 years old, I rode a few mountain bikes. My last bike was a giant Atx 770 built by a friend of my brother’s. Who made the bikes for a team in Argentina? It was a crazy and amazing bike, full of the top components. Every week, I ride 20 kilometers on the highway by switching from all-terrain tires to thin road tires. I lived near the ocean where we had mainly sand streets in our neighborhood, and we were like 3 blocks away from the beach. There you develop really strong legs. My bikes didn’t last much with the sand and salt, but I kept them serviced by myself.
So my first personal project, the Branch MTB, was a bike that I would love to make happen so I could ride it. This also gave me the idea to make a kind of retro bike focused on that 80s–’90s decade of style. This project got the attention of the Chinese company Eastgem Denzel.
Pablo Baranoff Dorn Work At Deeper Level:
It gave me the opportunity since then to work at a deeper level with an engineer. The job was really challenging, but I did it. To this date, I have enjoyed working with them, developing the first electric Honda café racer. Later, I wanted to make my own style with the WAYRA projects to show that I can make something different and with a lot of well-invested thought and logic in design as a creative, researching, studying the market frames, the welding styles, the way light passes through and reflects onto the road. WAYRA is an ongoing project that I use to express myself when I want to show what I don’t get to apply to some kind of constraint.
For some projects during 2016, like the Denzel Sparta electric bicycle, I upgraded the design they had, incorporating a new look for the plastic that covered the sides for a more attractive result. Then came the Samurai, where I designed the rear arm and the bike incorporated those plastics from Sparta.
Then came the electric café racer. But there is an issue, I was not told the bike was supposed to be produced on carbon fiber. That thin material was not easy to produce, but it did come out to be of resemblance to the original design. I can understand investors who ask for changes to be the way they want.
Do you ride a motorcycle yourself?
When I was young, I rode a scooter once. That was the closest. I was kind of a daredevil on my MTB, so I had been forbidden to ride motorcycles. My father, in his youth, had a Harley Davidson, and then my older brother had a Honda Shadow in his 30s. Their influence makes it easier for me to understand them and the clients on a deeper level.
We’re very interested in your EV designs. Why did you start sketching these?
This is what the clients adore more. The more I do, the more they want to see. I did a very good job of getting everyone’s attention; from criticism to praise, all this cheered me up to challenge myself to do something different and not the standard the industry uses. Some companies have told me that even though my style is great, it is not the way the industry works.
That’s why they loved my designs also, making it more difficult for companies to hire me. Now, by being a freelancer, they feel free to contact me and work with me on another level. I love making something good and unique, and I have to be creative and make a product that is special, challenging, and not a copy.
One experience was working with OX motorcycles for the preview. They needed it to show how fast a bike was before the company in China had it ready. They didn’t share anything; it was all top secret. So they were great and they approached me really formally, which was cool, and they had 2 interns, and they wanted me to work all out on it.
During the tiring process of OX Motorcycle:
During the tiring process, I show them a preview of the render and they say, “What are those tires? They asked, and I was like, mmm… those are the classic Firestone café racer tires. Nevertheless, if you have another tire brand in mind, just share it with me and I will add it. I can only speak well of OX. It was a funny meme.
With Denzel, I had laughs also, because the more you are asked for, the more you learn, yes? I started as just a designer, not allowed to think as a designer, then I delivered them some cool and well-thought-out drafts.
Then I was asked to think as an engineer. That made me laugh, but I knew I delivered them well with a good design. I worked during a flight and modeled tires with the trackpad on the flight in economy class in a tight space. It is always fun and the experiences are great.
What’s shaking for 2023?
Now that I’ve finally finished a long sequel to my Wayra, the horizon is full of surprises. I have been trying to work out how to develop WAYRA. Lots and lots of people ask on the net. I even get some phone calls and emails. It is a great bike, design, and product, so I can only imagine what it would be like as a real thing, a beast polished to the top with premium quality materials.
I dream of making it happen as a personal project and a business. On the other hand, there are lots of projects I partnered on as a designer that I can’t really say much about. Except that I am curious about which one would come first.
Credits to give to someone else?
Since second grade, my mother has enrolled me in good design classes and a bilingual school, which was the first step. My elder sister educated me on fine arts; my father, with 30 years of experience in mechanical design factories and construction management, supported me with almost all my hardware and gave me all that technical knowledge and how to always use good elements for everyday work since I was just a little boy, and how to fix things.
My brother also encouraged me to grow and helped me a lot. He took me on his bike to the beach with his shadow Honda bike for a ride, and he knew how to ride it like a champ.
My younger sister assisted me with school supplies during the day. I credit them for pushing me, so I push harder afterward. My wife has also done a lot and by my side, she has given me strength and advice. That’s hard to find, so thanks a lot, everyone!
