Apple Designer Jonathan Ive Influenced the Crossguard Lightsaber in STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS
Art by Kim Christensen
One of the most talked about things in the teaser trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens was the crossguard lightsaber that the villain Kylo Ren was brandishing. When director J.J. Abrams was trying to come up with a new design aesthetic for the ancient Jedi weapon, he consulted with Apple designer Jonathan "Jony" Ive. Ive is the man responsible for designing the iPhone and iPad.
In an interview with The New Yorker, Ive gave some insight into how he helped influence the new lightsaber design that Abrams ended up using. Apparently he gave the director some ideas about what might make a lightsaber more interesting. He told the New Yorker,
"'I thought it would be interesting if it were less precise, and just a little bit more spitty.' A redesigned weapon could be 'more analog and more primitive, and I think, in that way, somehow more ominous.'"
I think it’s great that Abrams solicited Ive's opinion, and it seems as if he took Ive’s general concept and put it to use when coming up with the new lightsaber design. Everything in his description comes across in what we’ve seen so far. I’m sure the crossguard lightsaber isn’t the only kind of new saber that we will see in the movie either. I can’t wait to see more when the movie is released on December 18th, 2015.
