Amko Leenarts, Global Director Interior Design @ FoMoCo Proud that he's not a 'car guy' Interesting observations regarding automotive Interiors, the use of leather, etc,: Designer Interviews: Amko Leenarts, Fords global director of interior design 22 September 2016 | by Bart Laenarts Designer Interviews: Amko Leenarts, Fords global director of interior design Pictures: Lies de Mol We meet Amko Leenarts, Fords head of global interior design operations, in a deli, right in the heart of the Detroit's Eastern Market. Its not a designer hub. Its where real people eat. I adore how cars reflect our culture and play a unique role in society, says Leenarts. Im not a petrolhead, though. I dont fancy classic automobiles or racing. Thats probably why Im an interior designer. Amko Leenarts 3 Typically, car designers try to work for the brand they love. Leenarts had better reasons to move to Ford in 2012, after 13 years at Peugeot: I didnt particularly like Ford interiors. So it made sense to come here and make a difference. As happy as I was at Peugeot, my work was done. The processes were in line, all went well. Working on the third generation of a model, I suddenly lost interest. J Mays initially saw me as Fords director of interior design in the US. But 30 minutes into the job interview, he made me globally responsible. J allowed me to focus on strategy, to organise the studios and to develop a proper design philosophy. Im convinced that the process makes the end result. Without healthy working methods, you can only hope on a lucky shot from time to time. Ford is too big to afford this. Our processes need to guarantee that 80 percent of our work is good. All the rest is a bonus. Amko Leenarts 5 Leenarts team also defined five fundamentals to make sure Ford does more than just styling: Designing rich experiences; fit for purpose; innovation; connection; desire in this sequence, he adds. These are taken into account for each line or button and eventually result in a genuine story. Next to the what, we defined guidelines as well. This second layer on the how goes deeper than a simple DNA of forms. We now arrange certain functions in logical clusters, for instance, creating a clamshell design, as in the new GT. And we continuously try to shave material away with a gigantic virtual knife. The edge is more important than the volume also results in shapes I could never have dreamt of. Leenarts lives in Detroit but splits his time between the US and Europe, as his wife and five kids live in the Netherlands. However, when hes at work, he doesnt mince words: Interior design, inferior design thats what people said at Peugeot. It wasnt much better at Ford. Typically, the guy who lost the creative competition for the exterior got to draw the interior as a consolation. And if he loses this pitch, he can do wheels or mirrors. Its not even a joke. Top managers always give priority to the exterior. Its what lures clients into buying. Design schools also tend to favour exterior design. Interiors truly are exciting, though. Unfortunately, theyre mainly explained by exterior designers. So it only goes skin deep. Amko Leenarts 7 Not at Ford, however: Not since were evolving from a feature-based product development towards an experienced-based product development. We used to have a responsible person for everything. So the cruise control guy tried to implement his speciality on as many vehicles as possible to strengthen his own position and to reduce the price per unit. The sum of all these items determined how the interior looked. Which could be quite messy, abundant and without a lot of connection. And theres more that needs addressing: Theres competitive pull and customer push, which is why this industry evolves so slowly. Carmakers often take decisions because their competitors do it. Its slightly incestuous. We hardly ever get inspired by stuff other than cars, and car interiors can only look like car interiors. Clients even think they want a certain feature because the neighbours have it. But is there a real extra value? Or was it something an engineer came up with and we then tried to impose it on all our customers, whether they like it or not? Amko Leenarts 8 I hate it when a vice president has visited another classic car show and suddenly decides he wants this leather or that wheel. Really? Are we grabbing back to the 50s? Im as excited about this Shelby Mustang [brought along for our photoshoot] as anybody. But an experience-based interior is not about crafting a beautiful shape. Its about writing a good story and about emotion and interaction with the vehicle. Leenarts is not the typical designer who throws a set of nice lines towards production or engineering and let them figure it out. Hes not constantly fighting the other departments either: They arent stupid. If they didnt understand me, its because I didnt explain it well. Of course, we have some tension, but this can also be healthy. Its a designers job to introduce visions and to have an opinion about everything. This, however, doesnt mean we know it better. I rather try to align all our divisions beautifully. Marketing and advertising need stories. Luckily, I cant imagine a nicer one than our design strategy. Amko Leenarts 10 And Leenarts likes to raise questions, mainly those without an obvious answer: What if we skip leather or get rid of old-fashioned stitching? Apart from handbags, no other product has it. And double stitching: I mean, why? How can we make a premium interior without these traditional symbols? This deli, my home, furniture, closets, floors all use wood functionally. But in a car, it is suddenly a glued-on panel. Whats that about? This alternative approach hopefully also solves other challenges: If we relentlessly add extra screens and stuff, cars will get too expensive and the client will back out. Meanwhile, customers constantly expect more value and features. So we must save in other areas without people noticing it. We already designed a premium interior without leather or stitching. I think there are premium shapes. It can be a line, a material or the way they collaborate together. Its not the same as craftsmanship. We call it perceived worth. After all an iPhone also looks more expensive than it is. Amko Leenarts 13 But the story predominates: People decide within 180 seconds after getting in whether they love the car or not. Its very powerful if I can influence this. I adore Audis air vent, which comes closer like a handshake if you reach for it. The product anticipates your needs. Cars could use more playfulness as well. But do we want humour? Automobiles have to be reliable. We entrust our lives to them. And a joke is only funny once. I prefer to give the vehicle some intelligence. That way itll progress by itself. Our smart phone dominates our life, while, honestly, it isnt a big deal. Its also pretty ugly. Apple design is extremely successful nowadays, while their phones are absolutely not ergonomic. The software is. The shape isnt. Why not? Maybe because ergonomic shapes are not always gorgeous. I dont think we could design an Apple-style interior, if we would want that in the first place. The clients patience only goes a certain distance if something is beautiful yet doesnt function well. Amko Leenarts 2 But the iPhone has one unique advantage: it evolves together with us. We upload apps and constantly discover new aspects. In the meantime, the car industry is as proud as a peacock with a red light in sports mode and a green in ecology. Really? Is that the best we can do? Our kids dont care about rev counters or engine temperature gauges. For them the technology should work in silence. They want connectivity. They dont even need to know the speed, because they drive along with traffic. Leenarts doesnt care if not all petrolheads look forward to these changes: I do. And so do youngsters. Theyre ready for autonomous driving. It wont make our job obsolete. On the contrary. I absolutely want psychologists in our team to explain how humans will deal with this changing reality. If we just depend on designers, well probably end up with all sorts of car freak crap. And all these concepts with pivoting chairs. Really? Will we look into each others eyes in the car or, God forbid, talk while were constantly working our smartphones elsewhere? Will the car become the new kind of bar? Maybe. Fact is, we know very little. Perhaps well all make love since theres nothing else to do. But our interiors will surely need more horizontal than vertical surfaces, because we will want to do stuff. Amko Leenarts 12 Silicon Valley is now a large source of inspiration: Google, Apple and others continuously show their latest innovations at parties. Which isnt so easy for Ford, a company that has been building big factories for 100 years. We can learn from them. But we can also give something in return. Its the only way to steer this massive machine called Ford Motor Company to another safe haven. Our much longer development times compared to them shouldnt be a problem, as long as we have the right building blocks instrument clusters, connectivity, head-up displays. Were now designing flexibly to make sure we can upgrade the interior if necessary. Package protect as we call it allows us to make parts smaller or bigger if needed. So we leave room for evolutions, even if we dont know what theyll be. Its a totally different way of engineering. Tags:
Do some of these guys talk too much? Lincoln: we will see how long this lasts. How many new design directions has Lincoln had in the last 15 years? Audi: Where is next since they have pretty much run through the current design language. China: The allure of creating not only design but the process is compelling. The downside to be watchful for is a senior management that is too scared to implement what the talent can create. Also, why is that the German companies are the talent pool? Harley Earl and Bill Mitchell are apoplectic over this turn of events.
Lincoln: too many to keep track of Audi: they have me concerned as to where to next. They've been one of my favorites since the '80's. We'll see where they're headed soon. China: they have made it no secret about their desire to become a/the major player in the car biz in 1/2 the time the Koreans & Japanese did it. They are not to be ignored. They're tappinhg theGermans for talent as they think that's where all the 'success' stories are, not unlike the Japanese & Koreans did.
The Koreans are the Japanese of the 60-70s. The chinese could very well be the next koreans. However, I do think the world has different tastes. I don't know how many billions of people can afford cars in China and even india... but there tastes and requirements are so different than the US and europe. The market is large enough to make specific cars for that market and not bleed the rest of the world of design. (Yes i know there are cars model specific to china, I am just saying the whole brand and line up doesn't necessarily have to be China acceptable there will be enough of a market to support there cultural desires)
The Chinese market is diverse in many ways depending on the vehicle & customer. However, they are as conservative as any market in many respects. Witness the popularity of Audi, Buick, MB,etc. They are just as status conscious as any market in many respects as well. In some cases they are more conservative than the US market with some cars, but in some ways, they're more adventuresome than others. I believe they want to establish their own 'look'. Hence that's why they are hiring so many Westerners to 'help' them achieve their own look, not unlike the Koreans have done over the past 10 yrs. Make no mistake they are a force to be reckoned with, and ignore them at your own risk.
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the complexity of some of this stuff boggles the mind.....too much caffeine? too little editing? who knows..
Mercedes appears to be the only one with any self restraint it would seem... Image Unavailable, Please Login
I think some of it is "because they can." Why did wrap around windshields, 4-door hardtops, and fins go wild in the 50s? Because the designers could. Literally. Technology made them all possible and even affordable, and excess demonstrated who had the "most" technology. Why did horsepower go crazy in the 60s? Same thing. "Luxury" items like pillowed seats, vinyl tops, and opera windows took over in the 70s because such things became possible and affordable (and performance had become impossible). For a while, all cars looked like eggs because that's what it took to make an aerodynamic car. Now, they are figuring out how to make a car aerodynamic while still having "styling," and just as with the cars of the late 50s, that styling is going to excess. Or, at least, that's why I think these things are happening
