// concept, artwork, environmental graphic design

ford motor company, art + graphics

During the 2020 pandemic and subsequent lockdown, the Ford Motor Company launched a project to completely refresh the brand standards for their their retail spaces and internal offices. This massive project would entail not only framed artwork, but also wallcoverings, windows, animations, and sculptural elements. Farmboy Fine Arts was hired for this massive undertaking and due to my background in branding, I was subsequently hired to help develop the narrative concepts behind it all.

The artwork narratives were informed by three brand pillars; Mobility, Sustainability, and Human. I was given access to Ford’s extensive image archive, which was a real treat as a designer. Working with their team of archivists, I poured through a century of photography, concept sketches, and design documentation. Farmboy’s internal catalogue of licensed fine art provided me with a wealth of design elements that I could use to remix these archival pieces, allowing Ford to see this imagery in a completely new light.

My goal was to leverage pieces of the Ford identity and find artwork that complemented those aspects. For example, when it came to imagery related to the history of Ford, I wanted to be more playful and subversive, juxtaposing black and white photography of men in suits with graffiti and street art from today.

For environmental designs, like glass and wallcoverings I created concepts informed by the colours and shapes of the Ford logo. Large sweeping segments of oval linework promoted movement in a hallway for example, whereas a tessellated pattern of oval dots on frosted glass provided privacy in boardrooms.

The work I created here would go on to be the backbone of Ford’s Global Artwork narrative. Farmboy produced a catalogue of EGD pieces and framed artwork that Ford office managers and retail franchise owners could use around the world. I’m really proud of that work, but it’s still a little surreal to think about.

A lot of my work can be seen in our case study on the Ford Experience Center, a project that was awarded Interior Design Magazine’s “Best Office Transformation” award in 2022. For a detailed look at this project, please take a look at the attached case study below.