With this new camouflage, Ford wants to make life difficult for the curious and “spies” of the car industry.
If you've ever seen a car covered in bizarre eddies or hallucinating patterns, then chances are you've come across a prototype coated with a special sticker camouflage. This type of design makes it difficult to focus on vehicle shapes, but it doesn't always work. That's why Ford's prototype manager, Marco Porceddu, developed a new “Brick” camouflage, in part inspired by the various optical illusions available online.
This camouflage uses thousands of black, gray and white cylinders, seemingly randomly placed in a chaotic crisscross pattern, making it especially difficult to discern new exterior features in sunlight, whether seen in person or in the millions of photographs that are posted on the internet.
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“Nowadays, almost everyone has a smartphone and can share photos instantly, making it easy for anyone, including our competitors, to see upcoming vehicles being tested. Designers create beautiful vehicles with innovative details. Our job is to keep these details well hidden.”
Lars Muehlbauer, Head of Camouflage, Ford of Europe
Each new camouflage takes about two months to develop and is printed on a super lightweight vinyl sticker, thinner than human hair, which is applied to each vehicle. Furthermore, it is designed to withstand extreme temperatures, blending in mainly with winter environments in Europe, while in Australia and South America sand colors are used.