The world of automotive design is one of the most diverse and interesting creative spaces you can imagine and stretches back over a century. One of the main ways designers differentiate their designs from the crowd is through grille design. Cars such as the out-there Tesla Cybertruck and the uber elegant Lexus LC are celebrations of how a front-end can make or break a car. Ford knows this game all too well, and we've recently come across some interesting new designs.

According to Ford Authority, Ford has trademarked several grille designs with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

Ford is about to release some very interesting designs out into the world, including the new Bronco and Mustang Mach-E, and the following grille designs can give us a better understanding of what is to come from future models.

The first design features three horizontal bars with vehicle openings on either side. It reminds us of the last-gen Ford F-150.

Design number two looks very contemporary. It reminds us of the grille that features on the current-gen F-Series Super Duty. It compromises a thick surround with two bars, and c-shaped end-pieces which is a clone of the current headlight setup.

The third design in the lineup takes an odd step back into the history of Ford's SUV attempts in the early 2000s. This grille utilizes the trademark mesh grille that we've seen on numerous other Ford models, both in sedans and SUVs. It's not that impressive, to be honest; it reminds us of the first-generation Ford Escape.

For the fourth design, Ford went with a slanted shape for the overall design. This already excludes the F-150 but could be used in the crossover or SUV segment. We like the simplistic and classic lines of this grille. A pair of horizontal bars run through this grille and looks very similar to the last-gen Ford Explorer.