#new lightsabres

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Star Wars: Apple iPhone Designer Jony Ive Helped Create New Lightsabres for The Force Awakens

The New Yorker has published a new profile of Apple’s design chief, and it reveals that he has been working on some extra-curricular projects.

Ive sat next to director J.J. Abrams at a dinner party in New York, where the pair got chatting about Star Wars. Abrams is directing the new Star Wars movie, which is going to be released in December.

“Ive once sat next to JJ Abrams at a boozy dinner party in New York, and made what Abrams recalled as ‘very specific’ suggestions about the design of lightsabres. Abrams told me that ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ would reflect those thoughts, but he wouldn’t say how,” reads the profile.

Ive then commented on the meeting, downplaying his involvement in any design process – including the design of the new crossguard lightsabre seen in the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer released last year.

We don’t know exactly what Abrams did with Ive’s advice, but it’s possible that it resulted in the unusual lightsaber seen being wielded by villain Kylo Ren in the movie’s trailer.

At first saying it was “just a conversation,” Ive then revealed that his suggestion was that the famous laser swords created by George Lucas for the original film in 1977 should look uneven. “I thought it would be interesting if it were less precise, and just a little bit more spitty,” he said.

The lightsabre in that trailer certainly seems to have a less refined beam to it, with the crossguard sections in particular looking more like flames jetting out of the hilt. It definitely fits the description of Ive’s suggestion.

Ive added that he thought the sabres should be “more analogue and more primitive” and therefore “somehow more ominous.”

It’s certainly interesting that the designer of so many sleek Apple products would want to see a “more primitive” lightsabre, but his suggestions do fit with Abrams’ vision for a more grounded rebirth of the series, particularly after the CG-heavy prequel trilogy.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be released on 18 December.