The CE02 conversion by Vagabund is not just a custom bike — it’s a complete design study that reinterprets how personal mobility can be communicated and experienced. Starting with BMW’s electric two-wheeler as a base, Vagabund stripped it down, scanned it in 3D, and rebuilt it with their own design language: clean, purposeful, and layered with cultural references.
Their approach is what they call “retrofuture” — blending the technical clarity of futuristic forms with the warmth and familiarity of retro details. One of the key inspirations came from music culture: specifically, the iconic OB-4 speaker by Teenage Engineering, which was integrated directly into the body. Paired with subtle gestures like grip-tape footrests, hidden compartments, or powder-coated metal parts, the result feels tactile and usable — not just visual.
But what makes the project stand out is its completeness. Vagabund designed not only the vehicle, but also its packaging, staging, and media concept. From custom metal crates with integrated lighting, to a fully art-directed film featuring a young musician navigating urban life, every aspect of the project was produced in-house or through close partners.
The CE02 conversion isn’t just about aesthetics or performance. It’s about showing how design, storytelling, and craftsmanship can come together to redefine how a product is perceived — and how it interacts with culture. It speaks to a generation that sees mobility, sound, and sustainability not as separate topics, but as part of the same lifestyle.
“Mostly, we design for ourselves. If it’s not compatible with our idea of design, we don’t do it.”
– Paul Brauchart, Vagabund Moto
BIG SEE Talks with Paul Brauchart from Vagabund Moto
Q: You started by reworking motorcycles, piece by piece. How did that path lead you to BMW?
A: We’ve done several (private client) projects based on vintage BMWs, and at some point, BMW asked—again and again—for some projects. Our first project for BMW Motorrad back in 2023 was the BMW CE 04 Vagabund Moto Concept.
Q: Vagabund has a strong voice. What defines your identity, and how do you keep it clear and evolving?
A: It’s hard to tell what Vagabund really is because we’re constantly pushing boundaries. We love design and functionality. We are designing, constructing, building, and marketing. And we definitely won’t stop or confine ourselves to certain fields.
We would love to—and are already planning—some furniture and interior projects, talking about collaborations in every other product design field…
Trying to stay hungry, open-minded, and unafraid is our core, I guess.
Q: Who are you designing for? What do you want people to feel when they sit on something you’ve built?
A: Mostly, we design for ourselves. Even when we work on marketing projects for big brands like BMW, we are super clear about what Vagabund is doing or not doing. If it’s not compatible with our idea of design, we don’t do it.
We’ve said no to many lucrative projects over the last few years so that, gladly, we no longer have to explain ourselves. Now people are asking for our design language and brand—bringing our idea of design into other products.We are “INTERPRETING THE STATUS QUO.”
“Trying to stay hungry, open-minded, and unafraid is our core, I guess.”
– Paul Brauchart, Vagabund Moto
Vagabund moto
Vagabund Moto is a design and makers studio from Graz, founded by Paul Brauchart (design) and Philipp Rabl (tech). Their work blends product design, engineering, and storytelling—challenging conventions across mobility, branding, and lifestyle.
Project
BMW CE 02 Concept Showcase
Year of Completion:
2024
Location:
Austria
Contacts
Website:
vagabund-moto.com
Instagram:
vagabund_moto
Photography:
Vagabund
Edited by:
Blažka Drnovšek
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JUST BLACK emerges as a sleek black line seamlessly connecting delicate architectural lighting. This hyper-miniaturised track harmonises form and function within a system that seamlessly blends beauty and precision.
With this family, Prolicht introduces a brand-new range of light inserts, thoughtfully scaled and designed to harmonise with JUST BLACK track, offering a comprehensive solution for minimalistic and versatile illumination, including technical spots, downlights and and linear inserts, and decorative pendants and spheres for general lighting.
The highlight of the family is the new Flexline, a flexible strip designed to be installed completely flush to the track edge, suitable for installation in both straight and curved profiles.
The imperceptible black line freely traces the trajectory that the tiny lighting inserts will follow, with infinte possibilities of configuration of linear and curved elements, enabling the creation of unique installations that transcend the original concept of a linear arrangement with light.
The system features an hyper-miniaturised surface-mount track, powered at 24V and featuring magnetic installation of inserts. In the suspended version, the track undergoes an aesthetic transformation with a cylindrical shape for suspended installation, and the range is completed with the JUST BLACK trimless, embedded into surfaces for a visually impeccable appearance.
The family is completed with JUST BLACK Standalone pieces: the fusion of pure lines and light. These luminaries radiate a pleasant aura characterised by the delicacy and rationality of the miniaturised .
BIG SEE Talks with PROLICHT team
Q: The system is incredibly versatile. What were some of the most unexpected use cases that challenged or expanded your original vision?
A: The most unexpected uses are for sure when some of the architects working with Just Black started to create very impactful product compositions, using as base something designed essentially to be a practical and easy solution, to achieve visually striking sculptures and actual “patterns” that then become part of the way we now apply in showing this family.
Another example of the versatility is the adaptation to our range of sound absorbing systems: thanks to the incredibly compact design of the Just Black track, we could also find a way to integrate it in panels, to combine acoustic comfort together with high quality light solutions.
“Architects turned a practical system into something sculptural — that was unexpected, and inspiring”
Q: In the JUST BLACK family, architecture, product design, and engineering seem deeply intertwined. How do you align these disciplines?
A: The connection between product design, application in architecture and technology is always present in anything we do at Prolicht: technology for us means first of all the best quality of light, with no compromises. Then, we develop and scout for the best technological solutions to support our clients, from simplifying the installation to allowing easy and accessible control, up to the design of a 3D online product configurator to let our clients express easily their creativity, without having to manage technicalities.
“Technology means light quality first. Everything else follows to support creativity without compromise.”
Q: JUST BLACK draws light as a nearly invisible line through space. What does minimalism mean to you in lighting design – and where do you draw the line?
A: Minimalism is a critical ingredient in our approach to architectural lightning concept and design.
With Just Balck we wanted to push the boundaries to the limit, offering the mere function of flexible light in the smallest possible size, in a way that we created a system that can be successfully integrated in the widest range of architectural concepts, from the most modern to even classical spaces, where a thin black line can be either merely support to light function, or can be creatively developed and become a surprising moment in the space.
“Minimalism for us is about offering function in its purest form — without taking space from architecture.”
PROLICHT
Austrian-based PROLICHT develops modular lighting systems that integrate seamlessly into architecture. Their in-house production enables fast customisation and precise adaptation to complex interior projects.
Project
Just Black
Year of Completion:
2024
Location:
Austria
Contacts
Website:
www.prolicht.at
Instagram:
prolicht.at
Facebook:
prolicht
Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/prolicht/
Photography:
Prolicht
Edited by:
Blažka Drnovšek
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