Apple's Jonny Ive Gave J.J. Abrams Lightsaber Design Input

It seems that renowned designer Johnny Ives, perhaps best known for his work with Apple, had some input into the design of the new lightsaber seen in the trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

A profile of ives in The New Yorker (via The Verge) recalls a meeting between Ives and Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams:

Ive once sat next to J. J. 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.

Ives later clarified that he had nothing to do with the controversial crossbar lightsabers, so send your fan rage elsewhere. Rather, Ives suggested something a bit more subtle.

"I thought it would be interesting if it were less precise, and just a little bit more spitty," said Ive, it could be "more analog and more primitive, and I think, in that way, somehow more ominous."

The effect certainly gives the weapon a primal tone, as if seething with rage. Pretty fitting for a Sith, if that's what the wielder actually turns out to be.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens December 18.