Pushing the boundaries
Edward Lee, the intriguing chief designer of the stunning Lexus LF-LC concept car, takes us on a journey from sketch pad to realityWhen Edward Lee penned the exterior design for the Lexus LF-LC on a piece of sketch paper in 2011, he never envisaged how much interest it would generate. The LF-LC was first shown in early 2012 at the Detroit Motor Show as a futuristic styling exercise to hint at where Lexus wants to take car design.
But with such a positive reaction from the public and indeed Lexus' regional branches, the LF-LC is now a good chance of reaching production. According to the young American designer, the concept's captivating shape was developed using a technique he calls 'fluid precision'.
"It's that mysterious, intriguing contrast that was the beginnings of the answer we were looking for. If you see the surfaces on the car, it's trying to capture the purity of fluid movement," he explains. "We call this fluid precision; that's basically taking fluid, free-flowing voluminous surfaces and controlling them with very precise lines."
Edward Lee is senior creative designer at the Calty Design Research centre, a Toyota-owned design studio based in Newport Beach, California. While Calty's main purpose is to shape the future of car design, it also contributes to production car design. More simply, it can be described as a concept car factory.
The LF-LC concept, which is still touring the major motor shows and was recently in Sydney for the Australian International Motor Show, is just one example of Lexus shaking off its conservative image and "looking for the freshest and newest ideas".
It's designed to appeal to discerning motorists who appreciate courageous designs, a market Lexus wants to capitalise on.
"Lexus right now is very hungry for innovation. We're moving towards a more emotional and expressive design mainly because we recognise our customers are becoming more confident about the choices they are making for designs."
However if his pride and joy, the LF-LC concept, was to make it to production, it's unlikely that Mr Lee would be involved in the design.
"I do have experience doing production cars, doing design, but I can't say I would be the specific designer for the LF-LC if it went into that [production] stage."
He says the fact the LF-LC was not designed as a production car is precisely what allows it to be so radical, and not hindered by factors such as pedestrian safety, powertrain positioning or general engineering.
"We're more focussed [with concept cars] and prioritising the emotional aspect of the design, making sure that our passion for design and our intention is as clear as possible so we were not constrained by production requirements." (continued)
THE J-FACTOR
"I would say it [LF-LC] is very J-Factor, very Lexus. I don't think any other brand would be able to execute that and put their logo on something like that," he says.
"J-factor is something clever. It's something that makes you go "oh, how come I didn't think about that". There's more depth behind what it appears to be on the surface.
"With LF-LC, what we did is we created our own inspiration with lightweight metallic shapes, and we looked at them and said "yeah, it's pretty interesting". But when we took those shapes and we started bending them and twisting them and looking at it from different angles, we saw that it can be quiet but from another view it can be visually surprising."
...Asked if he drew inspiration from any other car designs when penning the LF-LC concept, Mr Lee was unequivocal.
"There's no specific brand we benchmark because we want to be original. I would say we're looking at ourselves, where we are, how much we need to push. We want to push the boundaries; we want to come out of our comfort zone. Actually I would say we want to feel uncomfortable, we want design that is provocative."
Mr Lee says he is inspired by simple shapes and art, and cites the Lexus SC400 convertible as one of his favourites. "The original SC, it's sleek, simple, it's elegant. I think that design influenced a lot of future Lexus designs when it was released."
And if given a clean slate, freedom of choice and a blank cheque, what would Edward Lee design? A Lexus ute? Not quite...
"I would say an LF-A that's more affordable. Something agile, lightweight, sporty."
Interestingly, Mr Lee gets around in a Volkswagen Jetta rather than a Lexus (his previous employer was Audi). And when quizzed on some of his favourite designs, he doesn't take long to single out another German model, the Audi A5 Coupe.
"It's a nice size, you can drive it comfortably but at the same time it's sporty."
While he didn't go so far as to call the A5 Coupe a modern classic, opining that such vehicles are rare, he did admit that every now and then special cars with timeless design do come along.
"When you do a design where the original intention is as clear as possible, it becomes timeless. As a designer you get this special feeling, it's a very a rare feeling, to get this clarity. When everybody understands the pure, original intention and allows it to happen, I think that's when timeless design happens."
Is the Lexus LF-LC concept a timeless design? History will be the judge.
CALLING BUDDING DESIGNERS
Lexus is keen to find the next crop of talented young designers, both internationally and in Australia, to keep pushing the boundaries of car design, and has launched a scholarship and sponsorship program to do just that. The Lexus Design Awards and Lexus Design Scholarship offer financial aid and mentoring to those with the best designs submitted to the design forum website Designboom.
Eager designers have just one stipulation, respond to the idea of "motion" via design. The entries will be judged by a panel of judges including the President of Lexus International, Kiotaka Ise, and 10 finalists will be chosen from all global entries. The two eventual winners will each get the equivalent of $60,300 to cover prototype production costs for a design to be shown at Milan Design Week.
Edward Lee has some words of wisdom for budding designers too: "Translating anything in your mind to something physical is a challenge in itself.
"That's the challenge for designers, to hold on, even if they're feeling like it's not going to work, they have to try to not compromise their original passion and original idea. It's a huge challenge but it's something a designer has to deal with if they want to maintain a level of energy."
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