作为汽车设计师，还是非常自由开心的。因为除了汽车，其他产品设计做起来，是相当有感觉的。毕竟做了四个轮子做做其他就是信手拈来，创新设计无界限。福特汽车设计师也玩起跨界，最主要的是他们能够从福特的设计语言中抽取元素，组成一个big ford design 的体系。Ford is showcasing a special design collection – including a bespoke chair, lamp and watch – infused with the company’s current vehicle design language and influenced by furniture and fashion trends.

这个女设计师就是设计椅子的。

The Ford Design Futuring Team, led by Erika Tsubaki (pictured above), has collaborated with the company’s senior designers from around the world to create the products, which are on display at the Ford Design Lounge at the show.

“The trends we see in furniture and fashion have a strong influence on how Ford’s vehicles will look and feel in years to come,” said Ford of Europe Design Director Martin Smith. “For many customers, the number one consideration in choosing their next car is outstanding and compelling design. We know from research that this is true of our new Kuga SUV.”

New colours Burnished Glow and Tectonic Silver, introduced last year, reflect a trend towards subtle luxury, a feeling embodied by premium Italian fashion brands. High series Titanium versions of the new B-MAX feature fabrics inspired by classic Savile Row tailoring. The inspirations for trim and colour palettes are drawn from furnishings, make-up and jewellery.

OK，设计福特手表的设计师来了，阳光帅哥。

“I look at trends in furniture design to find inspiration for my automotive design work,” said Dennis Sartorello (pictured above), design supervisor, Ford of Europe. “It’s quite a role reversal to actually be creating a piece of furniture for Salone del Mobile inspired by Ford vehicles.” The Ford design DNA is also influenced by technological developments and trends online and in social media.

“Social media already influences what happens inside our cars; the next step is to look at how our customers might express their feelings and emotions though the exteriors of their cars,” said Eugen Enns, exterior designer, Ford of Europe.

In terms of technology and design working together, the development of LED lighting has already had an impact, enabling Ford to reduce vehicle headlamp-sizes and create slimmer designs. “The introduction of LED technology has made a huge difference and made an ideal subject for Ford to present at Salone del Mobile,” Smith said.

当然，福特也搞了互联网电动智能自行车设计。还挺有设计感的。

Ford is expanding its global ‘Ford Smart Mobility’ plan with a new experiment to study how electric bicycles can work with cars and public transport to improve daily commutes and help businesses operating in urban centres.

The experiment called Handle on Mobility was detailed recently at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and marks the latest mobility project the company has announced worldwide this year as part of Ford Smart Mobility, the company’s plan to develop new technologies related to connectivity, mobility, autonomous vehicles, customer experience and big data.

Ford says these experiments will help test transportation ideas for better customer experiences, more flexible user-ship models and social collaboration that can “reward customers”.

Traffic problems and overly-long commutes have a significant economic and social impact in large cities. According to the European Commission, congestion within the European Union costs about €100 billion per year. A study by the U.K. Office of National Statistics shows that each minute added to a commute affects anxiety, happiness and general well-being.

As a starting point for its Handle on Mobility experiment, Ford challenged employees around the world to submit designs for e-bikes. The prototype MoDe:Pro and MoDe:Me e-bikes first unveiled Mobile World Congress are said to be among the top designs from more than 100 submitted.

Both e-bikes are equipped with a 200-watt motor with 9-amp-hour battery that provides electric pedal assist for claimed speeds of up to 25 km/h. The prototype e-bikes incorporate technology said to be inspired by the automotive industry including, for example, a rear-facing ultrasonic sensor. This enables a rider alert system that both warns the cyclist when a vehicle is overtaking, by vibrating both handlebars, and alerts motorists of the presence of the e-bike by illuminating handlebar lights.

The first e-bike, dubbed MoDe:Pro, which has been developed entirely in-house by a Ford design team, is primarily intended for urban commercial use such as by couriers, electricians, and goods and delivery services. It is designed to stow into commercial vehicles such as the Transit Connect, which can act as a carrier and support vehicle, and be combined with more than one e-bike.

Built in collaboration with bicycle manufacturer Dahon, the second e-bike, called MoDe:Me, is intended for urban commuters to keep moving in congested city traffic. Both foldable and stowable, it allows commuters to park on the city outskirts, take the e-bike onto public transport and travel to the centre, then ride the e-bike to their destination.

Both e-bikes also work with a prototype app called MoDe:Link compatible with the iPhone 6. The app features navigation aids which enable the bikes to trigger handle-bar grip vibrations that let the rider know when to turn. Another feature is what Ford calls ‘Multimodal navigation and smart routing’, which integrates journey planning with personal vehicle and public transportation networks that can be filtered by cost, time, and amount of biking.

As well as revealing the two e-bike design studies, Ford also took the opportunity at this year’s Mobile World Congress event to showcase for the first time in Europe the Info Cycle experiment, an open-source research initiative to gather information about how bikes are used in different urban areas.

Ford technologists say the project has been designed to enhance understanding of the biking ecosystem and to improve safety for cyclists, as well as exploring improved mapping, smart journey planning and community-based services. A sensor box on the frame gathers data such as wheel speed, acceleration, weather and altitude.