This is the third article in a six-part BULLETIN series exploring the most intriguing artisans, makers, and craftspeople that Lincoln has had the pleasure of working with; view all of the stories here.
The creative process is not about first instincts. Those are the thoughts that divert from true innovation.
Andrea Di Buduo, the Italian-born Exterior Design Manager for Lincoln, tries not to rely on his first impulse when he takes pen to paper. If he comes to his sketchpad with a preconceived idea, it’s probably already been done before.
Conceiving of a new idea for a car can be an arduous process. Despite having highly advanced software at his disposal, Buduo begins each car design by sitting down with a pencil and paper. Sketching, he says, is an intimate way to begin a highly competitive process.
Andrea finds inspiration in competing with the unyielding energy of his colleagues. Each designer is vying for his or her work to be chosen and manifested into a vehicle, or, as he says, “win selection for production.” They create with the motivation to inspire a certain type of individual; one who recognizes the fine details, who will love, appreciate, and respect the design as much as they do.
Buduo has been sketching cars since he was a little boy. Powerful, extraordinarily intricate engines inspire him—be they in cars, motorcycles, or even watches. Buduo pays close attention to other machines and observes both body and the way they execute precision. When an engine is exposed, he says, you can see how much care was taken to make the entire product.
In his spare time, Buduo creates colorful masterpieces depicting cars in motion (view a gallery here). They are large form versions of the automotive sketches he has created since boyhood and colorful homages to the machinery that he’s chosen to dedicate his life’s work.
This passion for automotive design permeates throughout the Lincoln Design Studio—Andrea insists that he is far from unique in having developed this obsession at an early age. This passion combined with profound talent and rigorous practice is exactly what it takes to bring a car design to completion. For him, all it took to start was putting a pen to paper.
This article was written by Lincoln and not by the Quartz editorial staff.