Cars are tools, but also works of art. At its most basic level, their responsibility is to meet the need for transportation safely, in a way their target customer can afford. But the best of them reach for something deeper. They evoke emotions. They speak to their owner of something beyond fuel economy and whether the driver’s back hurts in a traffic jam. They let their owners feel something about themselves and the way they move through the world.
This comes through in the shape of the thing. In the way the shifter fits the hand. In design.
The 2021 Ford Bronco, for instance, has a challenge most midsize SUVs don’t face. It has to be a comfortable car for daily use, a capable off-roader perennially among the best rock crawling, mud-throwing vehicles Americans can buy, and a worthy successor to a name many Americans remember fondly.
That is a design challenge.
One of 75 Award Winners, But the Only Car
And the Bronco has met it. Ford’s rough-roader is one of 75 designs to win the 2021 iF Design Gold Award. The Bronco joins an air-purifying lamp, a bike helmet, a hotel, a wine rack, and 70 other products on the list of award winners. A jury of 98 architects, artists, and designers selected the winners from a list of nearly 10,000 nominees.
Of the Bronco, the jury wrote:
“The 2021 Ford Bronco is built for those who have waited patiently for the legend’s return to the wilderness. Built on a platform that will also underpin the next Ranger midsize truck, the 2021 Ford Bronco picks up where its predecessor left off, as an off-road-oriented, body-on-frame SUV. The 2021 Bronco is the 6th generation truck to carry the name but leans into the graphic imagery and utility-led architecture of the 1st-generation 1966 vehicle. The visual DNA captures the single-piece grille, round lights bisected by a bar carrying the product name, the front fender ‘trail sights’ helping the user see the vehicle’s corners, contrast color removable roof, redacted surface language where all superfluous styling or detail has been removed.”
Other Automakers Honored for Other Projects
No other vehicles won. But the jurors honored automakers for other projects. BMW won for the design of the virtual reveal event for its iX SUV. Hyundai won for the E-PIT ultra-fast charger stations designed for its home market in South Korea.
