Interview with Jonathan Ward & Andrew Davidge

ICON was founded in 2006, with the simple goal to revisit classic transportation design in a modern context. We run 36 employees in a 44,000 square foot facility here in Los Angeles. Our core products are vehicles with classic styling fused with modern engineering. We are all about reviving classic industrial art in transportation, something we feel the industry has all but abandoned.

A defined perspective, clearly expressed opinion. Great design is “considered”, meaning design is full of balance and compromise, so great design has been thoroughly considered, and those paths must follow the initial utility and vision of the designer. Superfluous elements are the kiss of death, everything must have utility value, and the functional intent of the design must be immediately implied.

I love transportation, furniture and watch design the most, although I find myself constantly studying almost everything. I really enjoy finding inspiration from other sectors of design (aerospace, Military, marine, architecture, fasion…), and infusing those elements in my projects.

Impossible to answer!

The FJ Cruiser design study concept vehicles for Toyota Corp.

I love researching and mastering modern vehicle technologies, and figuring out how to inject them into classic vehicles.

Laying in bed at night, dreaming, and when attending notable car events like the Concours De Elegance each year.

I spend ample time visualizing the design in my head, all the way down to the tactile elements, before ever putting pen to paper or starting a CAD file. I find I do my best work when the vision is clear before I begin.

Pride, frustration, anticipation

Less frustration, more pride! Although I am never 100% happy or done. Even as I realize a design, I find myself asking many questions about how to evolve or rethink that very design!

Emotion conveyed, utility clear, quality of execution, proper ergonomics, tactile value and sense of quality.

I feel there is no bad design. Just like art, design is an opinion. So then perhaps god design is an expressed opinion that resonates the longest, and hopefully with the largest audience!

Big believer in “Cradle To Cradle” design. We can no longer afford to disregard the industrial processes, waste nor life span of our creations. They all must take care of the planet we expect to live on!

I am excited by the constantly evolving and emerging manufacturing and reverse engineering solutions coming to market. I think these will all be key factors in enabling designers and entrepreneurs to be able to realize their dreams, and forge new roads!

SEMA show in Las Vegas, November 2013, and Known Gallery with Herschel Supply last month. One day I would love to see my designs featured in a conventional art gallery. So often, transportation is not seen as art.

Everything I read, see, smell or touch can inspire my next idea. I have a very open eye and mind, and I am always exploring everything around me for inspiration and integration.

For whatever reason, I am drawn to vintage design over modern design in everything. Too often there is no passion in modern design, perhaps to many focus groups, too few brands allowing one individual to drive a product. So I consistently ask myself how to revisit a classic design language, while making it relevant in the modern world.

I live in Los Angles, California. Tons of great design culture here, but I try to travel abroad as much as possible because the youth of our country (combined with our relative misunderstanding of the value in the old…) to widen my perspective.

I have done several collaborations with large companies. I work best when there are few chef’s in the kitchen. So my favorite collab’s are when a larger company comes to me with respect for my approach to design, while opening my eyes to new processes.

So may designers today work to almost avoid having a personal style or perspective in their work. I understand why, as this allows them to embrace a potentially larger customer base. However, I believe the best designers have a natural, innate, perspective on design and the look of the world around them. So I feel the purest designs come from a confident designer who manages to find clients that embrace his or her way of seeing the world, and less so from designers who try to get into the client’s head, then try to create from that angle.

I write a list of things I do not like about products in the space, and another about what I do like. Then I live with a product for a while, and keep notes of new ideas and functions I am entertaining. Next is a period of doing nothing but daydreaming about it, as I allow the vision to cement in my mind. My best work is done if I do not start anything until I can see it clearly in my own head!

Axe head from the Stone Age. 1910’s movie poster canvas scrolls. Raymond Loewy Globe Radio, 1940’s French Mahogany airplane ceiling light, 1900’s wrist watch.

Up, herd the kids out the door and off to school. Half hour drive to work while I make a mental list of goals for the day. In the office, knock out the emails, put out any the fires, then hopefully focus on design outlines for current client projects then work on a few of my pet projects for the future. Home, glass of good single malt scotch, time with the family… repeat!

RESPECT YOUR PERSPECTIVE! Nothing else matters more to a designer than his or her own faith in their natural design opinion.

The frustrations of not being able to realize every vision, due to technical or financial limitations, is a bummer. However, being able to drive and see others appreciate the ones we are able to fund, makes it work out! One big negative is the lack of protection provided my patents, trademarks and other traditional design protections. Seeing my ideas ripped off makes me sad, especially when poorly done…

If you do not have clear vision and interest in the project, it is OK to say no thank you! There is enough stuff in the world that there is no need to create anything new that is not inspired, and built to last.

Ability to envision ideas, and the ability to communicate them clearly (verbally as well as graphically).

Massive library of vintage biographies, font reference books, automotive titles and studies, FARO Arm scanner, CAD programs, and the good old sketch pad! English wheel, planishing hammer, plasma cutter, pattern table, Rotex punch…. antique toys, art, instruction models everywhere in my office....

Daydream until it feels right, and I can clearly see it. Then move forward, but never before…

Most of our automotive projects take 1-2 years to realize and build.

What is next??

My prior career, as a young actor, taught me so many valuable lessons about the art of communication, and to respect myself, even in the face of adversity or times of struggle.

Marc Newson, Jonny Ive, tons of typical celebrities and Fortune 500 types, but the Industrial Designers are the ones I am proudest off. They are some of my hero’s, so to see them drawn to my work… perfection!

Breathing new life into vintage designs, period. There is something about revisiting designs from the past, in a modern context that fascinates me. There are so many lessons to be learned, so many unique challenges, I love it!

We will continue to grow ICON, with new vehicle and bicycle lines (in collaboration with Andrew). Meanwhile, I am thinking about starting two new brands. One in transportation electronics integration, and the other a watch brand…

I like to realize the design initially on my own, then I assemble a “Master Alliance” team of individuals with varying expertise’s, to help me realize my ideas. It takes a village…

Working on a car design from scratch that hopes to answer this theoretical question: “If WWII and the depression combined with the perversions of the industrial revolution had not interrupted the evolution of the Streamline design language in transportation, what would the ultimate expression have been?”

jw@icon4x4.com www.icon4x4.com 818-280-3333