DETROIT — Ford Motor Co.'s new Bronco Sport crossover didn't initially resemble the boxy, rugged vehicle that's now reaching dealerships.
In 2017, the program was still lacking direction, with senior management unimpressed by early sketches showing a sleeker, more athletic-looking utility.
That's when Jim Farley stepped in.
The future CEO encouraged designers to take a step back and distill their vision into two words. After the team chose "honest" and "robust," they started what's known as a sketch blitz, opening up the process to employees working on other programs in an effort to spark creativity and strike design gold.