Ford redesigns the sandwich

Mark Phelan | Detroit Free Press

The Ford design team that created auto show favorites like GT, F-150 and Mustang faces a very different challenge in Italy this week. The Milan Furniture Fair will include a Ford lounge showcasing non-automotive projects created specifically for the internationally renowned design show.

Ford's not going into the furniture business. "We're taking the concepts and philosophy behind the Ford GT's interior design and applying it to other products," Ford design chief Moray Callum said.

The Ford designers created a sandwich, sailboat model, suitcase and more, using the GT as inspiration.

The projects promote the designers' range of talents and set the table for applications of the GT design theme in future Ford vehicles.

The GT's sweeping, organic shapes will influence future Ford interior designs. In Milan, the look will stand alongside work by some of the world's leading non-automotive designers.

He invited all 350 members of Ford's design staff around the world to contribute in January. About 130 turned in proposals. The ideas ranged from furniture to cutlery, a sandwich and a guitar, all inspired by the Ford GT exotic car.

"Enthusiasm is very high," Callum said. "The work is extremely creative."

Ford's top designers picked 10 of the proposals and made physical models of them for the furniture show. They'll be on exhibit in the Ford lounge at the convention center. The lounge will provide space for people to sit, relax and have a snack.

Ford won't display any vehicles. It's the only automaker with a stand at the show. Ford of Europe started showing its designers' work at the fair a couple of years ago. This is the first time the global design staff participated.