R-M The Code - Alexandre Rossier, KISKA lead designer
R-M The Code is a Colors and Design programme created by R-M, the premium automotive paint brand of BASF, in partnership with TheArsenale. Launched in 2017, the programme invited twelve of Europe's most respected independent designers and builders to create individual projects using R-M paints, each assigned an exclusive colour code developed specifically for their piece. One of the twelve selected participants is Alexandre Rossier, lead designer at KISKA, the Austrian studio that shaped KTM's visual identity for more than three decades.
What Is R-M The Code?
The Code is a creative platform where automotive refinish technology meets independent design culture. R-M's brief to each participant was open: create a project, any vehicle or mobility object, painted with R-M products, guided by a unique bespoke colour created in collaboration with the brand's technical teams. The twelve participants range from boutique custom garages to major design studios, and include names such as Lucky Cat Garage in France, Von Zadig in Belgium, Caresto in Sweden, Death Spray Custom in the UK, and Garage Italia Customs (represented by Lapo Elkann) in Italy. Each project was documented across a dedicated platform and social media, with a final exposition planned for 2018. The official programme details are available at R-M The Code on rmpaint.com.
Alexandre Rossier and KISKA: Designing from the Inside Out
KISKA was founded by Gerald Kiska in 1990 and won its first KTM design brief in 1991, going on to shape every KTM motorcycle from the original Duke onward across a 30-year partnership. Alexandre Rossier, one of KISKA's lead designers, brings the studio's philosophy of inside-out design to The Code: the idea that a vehicle begins with the driver and passenger, that the machine exists to protect and extend the human at its core, before any surface or colour decision is made. Rossier has described this as biomimetic thinking, comparing it to how a beetle's shell serves the organism beneath it: "We design from inside out. When you design a car, the most important part is you, as a driver, as a passenger, and you use your vehicle to protect you. Just like an organic animal. The beetle. It's exactly the same thing." For background on KISKA's broader design approach and its influence on modern motorcycle aesthetics, see the KISKA x KTM work portfolio.
Cetonian Green: A Colour with Purpose
KISKA and Rossier's contribution to The Code involves a custom colour called Cetonian Green, developed specifically for the programme by R-M's technical paint specialists. The name references Cetonia, the rose chafer beetle, whose metallic green iridescence is produced not by pigment but by the physical microstructure of its shell, a fitting reference for a studio that thinks about design from the organism outward. The colour will be applied to a vehicle designed exclusively for The Code, creating a single unified creative object where the paint is not a finish applied after the fact but a fundamental design element integrated from the concept stage.
Why The Code Matters for Custom Design Culture
The R-M The Code programme is a rare example of a technical brand, a paint manufacturer, creating genuine cultural value rather than simply sponsoring events. By selecting independent designers and builders rather than institutional automotive clients, R-M acknowledges that some of the most interesting work in vehicle design is happening at small scale, driven by individual vision rather than corporate brief. TheArsenale's role as co-curator and partner brings that work to a global audience that appreciates mobility objects at this level of craft and intention.
Discover more custom motorcycle craftsmanship at TheArsenale, including the TheArsenale x BLITZ Motorcycle and the Fuel Motorcycles Coyote. Browse the full custom motorcycle collection.
