The Designer’s Edge
A Ford designer gives insight on the award-winning Ford Edge.
By Vivek Kemp
Ford recently topped the list in this year’s Kelley Blue Book Brand Image Awards,* taking home a trophy for Best Exterior Design Brand. The recently redesigned Edge played a key role in securing the honor, so we spoke to the senior designer, Bregt Ectors, about the thinking behind what he calls “a bold, unapologetically American vehicle.”
Triple Vision
We wanted to design a car with three levels of definition: 500 feet, 50 feet, 5 feet. If you are driving toward an Edge at 500 feet, you need to see that it’s a Ford. As you close in on it at 50 feet, you need to see clearly what kind of car it is. And finally at five feet, you need to see the details that define the vehicle.
Bright Idea
The Edge’s LED driving lights are unique. They’re vertically oriented, whereas most car lights are horizontal. Combine that with the additional light being cast from the headlights, and the Edge creates a very harmonious composition of light.
Design DNA
The DNA of our design starts with the customer. We create a board filled with images that would represent the end user—maybe a picture of a specific mountain bike. If the person wears a watch, what type of watch is it? Once the board is filled up, you get a great overview of what the customer is all about.
