Designing a boat with brand foremost in mind requires designing beneath the surface. Everything has a meaning. Each line, surface, and proportion must embody the brand. This is what design consultancy Kiska strived to achieve with the design of the Frauscher 858 Fantom.
Frauscher has been handcrafting luxury boats in Austria since 1927. It is a family business with a rich tradition of making boats that the elite must be seen in while summering in Cannes, Monte Carlo and Porto Fino. With the 858 Fantom, Frauscher’s aim was to create the ‘luxury sports car’ of boats: a sleek, desirable 28-foot vessel that can be driven at full throttle yet is comfortable enough for day-to-day use.
Working closely with Kiska, Frauscher took an evolutionary step, reinterpreting their brand heritage and traditional design features into an automotive style. Using details like the concave surface beneath the shoulder line, the high top line and an integrated wind screen — features that would be at home in a luxury cabriolet — Kiska was able to refine and expand Frauscher’s existing product language in an automotive direction.
The design of the 858 Fantom also challenged the status quo of boat manufacturing. Automotive surfaces demand advanced engineering software and techniques, so 3D modeling was executed in tandem with the design and a new manufacturing process to mold the concave exterior surfaces was also integrated.
Each design and styling choice made had a purpose that evolved the brand’s ‘handcrafted, premium quality and fun to drive’ values. If Kiska had moved forward with the design without delving beneath the surface, a very different boat would have emerged.
Photos © Frauscher
