Ford to offer bigger fonts, brighter colours

Ford designers say they will develop a “bold” new colour palette over the next few years set to include hues like ruby red and blue candy.

“People form an emotional connection with colour,” says Susan Swek, Ford Motor Company’s chief designer, colour and materials.

“They live with it; it surrounds them every day. So what Ford is doing is staying consistent with our leadership regarding our core colours and pushing the limits of technology to expand our specialty colours.”

Consumers can expect to see more depth and range in the colour options such as tinted metallics and neutrals and more complex tri-coats that offer increased shine and highlights.

Today’s automobile designers are on the job 24/7 looking for inspiration, says Swek, and they find it all around them.

“Designers are inspired by whatever surrounds us and by whatever is personal to us,” she says. “We get ideas from nature, art, architecture, technology – everything. We look at social influences, trend services, what’s selling now and what’s sold in the past.”

Research shows that up to 40 per cent of car buyers said they would walk out of a dealership if they could not buy a vehicle in the colour they wanted.

When the Ford Fiesta launched in the U.S. in 2010, paint shades like Lime Squeeze and Bright Magenta were in high demand, showing that both the basics and the bright could co-exist.

The move towards brighter colours comes at the same time Ford plans to increase the size of interior fonts.

Fonts will be increased by up to 40 per cent starting with the Ford Edge and Explorer arriving in dealers next year and rolling out to other vehicles, the company says.