Ian Cartabiano on Lexus lighting design, architectural inspiration and the future of the spindle

Lighting has become one of the most powerful tools in automotive design — not just for visibility, but for emotion, identity and communication. Speaking to Car Design News, Lexus and Calty design chief Ian Cartabiano discusses how projects such as the LS Micro and LS Concept are redefining the role of illumination in the car, from atmosphere and Japanese notions of shadow to autonomous communication and the future evolution of the Lexus spindle.

Car Design News: How did lighting shape the design philosophy behind the LS Micro and LS Concept?

Ian Cartibiano: We wanted to convey a warm and welcoming atmosphere inside and out of that vehicle because we're aware of how, especially in California, size matters and people are a little apprehensive of a single-seat mobility vehicle. So we decided to try to make it as warm and inviting as possible and to use what a lot of architects have been using with very sophisticated lighting and basically modern boutique hotel lighting.

You see a lot of that in Tokyo. Joo and the team had done research there the year before, looking at a lot of new places, but also London boutique hotels, New York and Palm Springs. Lighting has become so integral to architecture now. It’s not, ‘Oh, we’ll put in the lighting after we’re done.’ It’s all thought of at the start.

One reason is that new technology has made really beautiful lighting more portable and easier to place in different locations. But I also think the way designers and architects use visualisation tools now means you can create a total atmosphere from the start.

When we said we wanted a warm and inviting atmosphere, the interior design team — basically the chief designer, the main designer and the CMF designer — focused every image on creating this welcoming and comforting environment using lighting that wasn't in your face, but put in the correct places to highlight touch points, create a bigger sense of space and cast shadows.

We put lighting in the back to up-light the bamboo waterfall behind the rear seat. That lighting lit up the texture in the wood but also extended the wood reflection into the ceiling. We intentionally made the roof in that car essentially a black mirror — a gloss black — so it visually extended much higher.

One thing we tried to convey in all our PR images was that the interior itself was lighting. That’s also why we decided to keep the cabin open at the Japan Mobility Show. The cabin actually opens and closes, but we chose to leave it open because we wanted people to really experience the interior atmosphere.

The LS Concept interior was also heavily defined by lighting, not only to highlight the materials but to create mood. The LS Micro and LS Concept were being developed symbiotically at Calty, and we were constantly bouncing ideas back and forth with Japan around the interior, the materials and the lighting imagery.

What we tried to do with all those concepts from the Japan Mobility Show is move the spindle graphic away from being a grille-dominated element to a lighting-dominated element. On LS Micro the spindle is dissolved into the architecture of the vehicle. On LS Coupe the spindle becomes the outside perimeter, while on LS Concept it's really that face signature or those brackets defining the front end.

One of our designers was also talking about Kabuki masks and how, with the play of light and shadow, the expression on the mask can completely change even though the mask itself does not change

We also used lighting to let the passenger know that this is the entrance — this is your portal to enter a new type of luxury experience. If you go to Tokyo and look at these really high-end boutique hotels, they’re often almost hidden, but there’s a subtle back-lit entrance that lets you know you’re entering somewhere special. We wanted that same emotional effect.

Lighting is the jewelry of the vehicle. It tells you what it is, creates mood and defines identity.

CDN: What role do shadow and subtlety play in Lexus’ lighting philosophy?

IC: Japanese traditional design and architecture play a lot on shadow. It’s not a negative thing — it’s part of the space and it’s part of the play of light.

We were talking about this yesterday actually. There’s a Japanese word, Komorebi, which describes the light filtering through the forest canopy. It’s not just the light itself — it’s the shadow space created by the leaves. There’s literally a word for that atmosphere.

That idea really influenced the way we approached lighting on LS Micro and LS Concept. Even in the rear passenger space of the LS Coupe, we tried to create — using shadow — an additional third design element. It’s hard to communicate in photos because you really need to experience it physically, but it’s definitely rooted in Japanese artisan culture.

One of our designers was also talking about Kabuki masks and how, with the play of light and shadow, the expression on the mask can completely change even though the mask itself does not change. That’s a really powerful idea.

We’re using lighting in our interiors to create different moods and to create that play of light and shadow, but we also have to be careful not to do light everywhere. Good lighting is incredibly hard to do well. There’s an art to restraint.

For Lexus, subtlety on the interior is part of the brand. It’s not really an in-your-face luxury technology. It’s there to help you, to guide your attention and to create moments of discovery.

Spindle identity, love it or hate it, is still a huge part of Lexus. People recognise it instantly. But now we can reinterpret it through lighting rather than relying purely on a physical grille

We use this keyword ‘discovery’ internally. Lexus should help customers discover a new vision, a new opportunity or a new way of thinking. So with CMF, sensory development and lighting, we ask ourselves: what sense of discovery can you give the customer? How do you create those small moments of joy every time they’re in the vehicle?

It has to be stunning and intriguing without overdoing it because you can very easily veer into the world of gaudiness.

CDN: Is lighting replacing traditional ornamentation in automotive design?

IC: That's exactly what we tried on those vehicles, to remove traditional ornament and use lighting as the ornament.

The LS Micro in particular was heavily influenced by urban architecture. A lot of the time we would photograph the vehicle from a low angle because we wanted it to feel architectural. The light signature is vertical and we even moved the Lexus graphic into a vertical format, which was the first time we’d ever done that.

The surfaces on those vehicles are very clean because they were designed specifically for urban environments where reflections from architecture become part of the experience. So instead of relying on chrome or heavy surfacing detail, we used lighting to create a striking but delicate signature.

We were using lighting not only to define the shape of the vehicle but also to define the entrance experience and the emotional identity of the car.

Lighting is now a huge part of the down-the-road graphic (DRG). In the old days you would talk about the 200-yard or 300-yard rule, where customers recognise a vehicle from a distance. Lighting has become central to that.

You convey your brand’s DRG through lighting now as much as through surface or grille design. That’s why moving the spindle graphic away from being grille-dominated toward becoming lighting-dominated was so important for us.

Spindle identity, love it or hate it, is still a huge part of Lexus. People recognise it instantly. But now we can reinterpret it through lighting rather than relying purely on a physical grille.

And as vehicles become more autonomous and electrified, lighting becomes much more potent because you no longer have traditional mechanical drama, engine sound or large cooling openings. Lighting becomes the emotional signature. It becomes the jewelry of the vehicle.

CDN: How does autonomous driving change the role of lighting in vehicle design?

IC: From a design aesthetic point of view, if you don’t have the sound of an LFA or traditional mechanical drama, then lighting becomes incredibly important.

Lighting is the jewelry of the vehicle that not only tells you what it is and creates mood, but also communicates intent. In China, for example, Level 3 and Level 4 autonomous vehicles require a specific lighting colour to tell pedestrians that the vehicle is in control. So lighting now has a very real communicative and protective purpose.

That’s something we explored a long time ago. Back in 2017 we used lighting as a communication device on the Concept-i we showed at CES. We used lighting to communicate which mode the car was in, what it was doing and how it was interacting with pedestrians.

Maybe we’re at this magical point right now where AI is truly helping design rather than replacing it

We used lighting to say: ‘Hey, I’m here. I’m turning left. I’m turning right.’ So it becomes an interface between the vehicle and the outside world.

But lighting is also emotional theatre. Sometimes it’s as simple as how cool it looks when the valet brings the vehicle up to the restaurant, or when an autonomous vehicle comes to greet you at the club.

The movie we made for LS Micro at the Japan Mobility Show captured that really well because it focused heavily on the lighting signature and the emotional atmosphere surrounding the passenger experience. So lighting becomes both practical communication and emotional identity at the same time.

CDN: What technical challenges — and opportunities — are shaping the future of lighting design?

IC: Lighting manufacturing technology has progressed incredibly quickly. The things we used to sketch were almost instant ‘no’ responses from engineering, but now if you can envision it there’s usually a way to make it.

A lot of it now comes down to regulations and cost. You still have to meet visibility requirements, turn-signal regulations and, increasingly, communication requirements for autonomous driving. But what’s exciting is that technology is finally aligned with designers’ vision. Lighting can now become extremely small and highly integrated into the surface of the vehicle.

We even reached a point where we realised we could almost make lighting disappear entirely, but then the vehicle starts to lose emotional character. Customers still need to recognise the vehicle instantly. That’s why lighting has become such an important part of DRG and brand identity. You don’t want it to disappear completely because people still need that emotional reaction of saying, ‘Oh my God, I want that.’

The other major shift is the development of AI-aided visualisation tools. We can now design lighting as part of the vehicle from the very beginning rather than adding it later. In the advanced phase it’s still a bit of a dream-factory world, but the tools are now able to accurately predict what lighting will actually look like in production. That means the guesswork is disappearing.

Honestly, it’s just a really great time for design. Maybe we’re at this magical point right now where AI is truly helping design rather than replacing it.