Influential automotive designer Frank Stephenson has typically thought small. Now he’s pondering smaller.
All through the previous three many years, he has formed — actually — a few of the most indelible designs in automotive historical past: the trendy Mini, the Ferrari FXX observe star, the Maserati Gran Sport, a variety of gorgeous McLarens and all the way down to the funky Twenty first-century model of the Fiat 500.
Now he’s turned his pen to fashioning watches.
His Cosmos analog piece, made to reflect “a black gap in house” and detailed “with an orange pinstripe which simulates the supernova glow of a neutron star,” incorporates a Japan-built quartz motion and was created in live performance with the Time Ideas firm.
“It’s the age-old adage ‘automotive persons are watch folks,’ so it was a pure step for me to get artistic with timepieces too,” Stephenson mentioned in a press release. “The gathering showcases the love I’ve for distinctive and emotionally charged design, identical to what’s required in designing world class vehicles.”
Whereas Stephenson, who’s 64, could also be greatest recognized publicly for his imaginative and prescient of “inexpensive model” with the Mini and the Fiat, his ethos additionally translated to the utilitarian. Within the case of BMW within the mid-Nineteen Nineties, the corporate was hustling to market an SUV, and turned to him for inspiration. His crew had six months to finish the mission. The end result was the high-end X5, which Stephenson sketched throughout a two-hour flight.
In 2018, Stephenson established the unbiased design firm, Frank Stephenson Design, primarily based in London.
Associated video:
