Fisker - Building the sonic identity of the EV company and its Ocean SUV

In my return to Fisker as Audio Lead at Fisker in January 2023 I led the Sound Design team in a player/coach role, defining our startup’s approach to vehicle sounds and our underlying sonic principles and identity. I built a Sound Design System that enabled our team to produce differentiated soundsets across the company’s product verticals that aligned with the priorities of leadership from UX, Engineering and Marketing. In the Ocean’s OS 2.0 update we shipped an updated soundset that addressed some customer feedback and issues with the repetitive tolerance of some commonly heard vehicle chimes. Leading the team in this refinement pass of the design language in our first product’s audio experience unlocked the work of our three Sound Designers to clearly build translations of the Ocean into new sonic pallets for future planned vehicles that felt unique, yet intuitive and cohesive.

Design System Approach

In a sensory experience as dynamic and complex as driving a car, a design system approach to sound is crucial. We must support safe and intuitive interactions that interlock with over-arching UX user flows and visuals. And, when appropriate, we can also deliver high-personality branded moments rich with delight. In defining that sonic spectrum for Fisker — from decorative personality to practical minimalism — I employed a Hierarchy that allowed myself and the SD team which I managed to work within clear objectives and constraints. We used the same set of tiers I honed during my time at Meta (i.e., Brand, Hero, Notifications/Alerts, Primary, and Secondary).

Thus, Brand sounds such as “Welcome,” “Power On” and “Charge Started” are high personality moments that illustrate the richness and premium character of Fisker. The Hero sounds of our Drive Modes are anchored in the energy and excitement of the vehicle’s driving experience. Alerts like “Battery Low” and “Seatbelt Unbuckled Reminder” leverage our uniquely warm and eccentric palette in short and intuitive ways that won’t cause distraction, and Primary and Secondary sounds like “Feature Engage” and “Turn Signal” completely remove decorative flourishes for a minimal sonic footprint that performs well for Repetitive Tolerance and boosted cognitive flow for the driver.

Chimes Set Hierarchy

Brand tier

Hero tier

Notifications & Alerts tier

Primary tier

Secondary tier

Exterior Vehicle sounds

Over a year, my audio team and I homologated 6 new exterior AVAS sounds which evolved based on customer feedback and market research. I also conceived of, drove alignment, built, and shipped a world-first set of “Exterior One Shot” sets customizable to user profiles, so that customers could leverage our software-defined experience to personalize their interaction sounds for Doors and Hatch.

AVAS (Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System)

To pass a homologation test for a new AVAS sound involves a significant investment of money, acoustic analysis, and design - engineering collaboration. The US, EU and Chinese markets each have their own unique tests, and it was a wonderful challenge to build a sound that would satisfy all requirements for every region while also bringing to life our vehicle’s identity in such a dynamic sonic way.

There are software and hardware limitations to what the exterior VSP speaker can output, and so an agile loop of rapid design and implementation testing is crucial. I skilled up on custom vendor software to craft the complex playback of many layers of audio based on the vehicle’s Velocity, Torque and Acceleration input values. As we responded to EU customer feedback that our original AVAS sound was a bit loud, it became clear expectations differed by region in large part based on the different homologation tests which dictated what other EVs could sound like. To achieve better market fit in all regions, I led two refinement passes to the original sound which we shipped in Q4 of ‘23 and Q3 of ‘24. It also became clear we could further delight customers with a selectable alternate AVAS sound (for EU vehicles) which we called “Stealth;” a sound I built and homologated that offered a smoother, premium, and quieter sonic signature to our more muscular and bold original AVAS sound.

Exterior “One Shots”

Personalization is a key benefit of SDEs, and there is no reason this ability to customize should not extend to one’s automobile. Imagine buying a new iPhone and having only one option for your Ringtone and Text Message sound - it’s unthinkable. This was the pitch I made to our senior leadership as I prototyped a series of sound sets that could not only offer delight and variety, but could support brand-building while also offering a monetization path. With our SAAS approach at Fisker, we envisioned a quarterly update to the feature - new sets for nominal one-time fees - aligning more with the expectations we all have around our phones’ sounds that change with OS updates. The parallel goal was that this could open up partnerships throughout the entertainment industry - featuring interpretations or snippets of current songs and movies - something Fisker was keen to do in support of our Hollywood Mode.

Marketing and Social Media

This Welcome Video I sound designed plays on the center console when customers boot up their new car for the first time.

Scoring

As the Sound Design team’s Audio Lead, I scored and led the other sound designers’ pieces for our remarkable Product Vision Day. It was a thrill to see all this work come together in 6 short weeks of sprinting. Here featured are some of the segments I personally scored.

The FORCE-E vehicle reveal at Product Vision Day 2023: As an electric and off-road capable version of our flagship Fisker Ocean, the score I created for the Force-E reveal needed to feel exciting, tough, and modern. I still incorporated elements of synthesizers and big programmed drums, but the dirty saturation of the electric bass guitar anchors the personality of the moment to a feeling that is unmistakably rugged. Visuals by Territory Studio.

The PEAR vehicle reveal at Product Vision Day 2023: PEAR was a smaller and more affordable SUV marketed at younger city-dwellers. I created a score for the video and on-stage reveal that leaned on eccentric and energetic percussion and on-trend synth flavors for a fun piece that feels both approachable yet premium. Visuals by Territory Studio.

The Blade computer at Product Vision Day 2023: Fisker designed and envisioned the Blade computer as a high-powered solution for the software defined vehicles of the future. I created a score that reflected the futuristic and capability of Blade that a refined restraint in comparison to the excitement of the vehicle videos. I also used an acoustic piano layer as a callback to the PEAR video (a vehicle slated to be built on the Blade HW stack). It was a joy to make this piece in tight sync with my friend and our team’s in-house UX Director/motion artist extraordinaire Nebojsa Visnjic.

Broadcast and Web Marketing spots

As the world’s most sustainable EV manufacturer, we sought to define an audio palette and marketing music choices that would reinforce the unique identity of Fisker. Design-forward, people-first, sustainable. Eclectic and energetic. Modern and intelligent.

I edited the score and built the SFX layer here for our Sustainability spot here for Broadcast television and web. I produced the VO session with our English actor, and edited the foreign language versions as well. There were a number of deliverables here, that ranged from 6 second cutdowns to this full 90 second version.