British Design Classics with embeded QR codes
- 1. When Jaguar prepared to unveil the E-Type at the 1961 Geneva Motor Show, the founder, Sir William Lyons, insisted that an early production model was driven there all the way from the Coventry factory to the motor show in Switzerland. The suspense ensured that Jaguar’s new sports car was a media sensation even before it was unveiled. Capable of up to 150mph (with a “fair wind”), the E-Type was half the price of and Aston Martin and hailed as Britain's affordable answer to a flashy Italian Ferrari. Malcolm Sayer had taken the sleek contours of the D-type that won Le Mans in 1955, 1956 and 1957 and made them work in a road car. A license plate on the front would ruin the looks and aerodynamics, so owners had to put a license plate sticker on the bonnet. On it’s release Enzo Ferrari called it “The most beautiful car in the world” Watch ‘Motor Magazine’ test an E-type British Design Classics JAGUAR E-TYPE Malcom Sayer, 1961
- 2. The team that designed the Mini was remarkably small: as well as Alexander Issigonis, there was Jack Daniels, Chris Kingham, two engineering students and four draughtsmen. The original prototype (1957) was affectionately named "The Orange Box" because of its colour. In 1999 the Mini was voted the second most influential car of the 20th century, behind the Ford Model T. The Mini is a small economy car that was made by the British Motor Corporation from 1959 until 2000. The original is considered a British icon of the 1960s, and its space-saving front-wheel drive layout, allowing 80% of the area of the car's floor plan to be used for passengers and luggage, influenced a generation of car makers. The vehicle is in some ways considered the British equivalent to its German contemporary the Volkswagen Beetle. British Design Classics MINI COOPER Alec Issigonis, 1957 Watch BMW create the new mini:
- 3. Flying at twice the speed of sound (1,354 mph), the supersonic Concorde made the Atlantic crossing (London/New York) in 2 hours, 56 minutes (an 8 hour journey today). Given the difference in time zones, Concorde flew so fast across the Atlantic that its passengers would land, according to their watches, before they had taken off The heat encountered by flying so fast caused Concorde to expand by 20cm mid-flight, whilst its fuel tanks where lined with Kevlar to protect them from the extreme stress and tension of Mach 2.0 flight Hailed for its elegant beauty as well as its speed; Concorde represented Britain's emergence in the field of international design, engineering and technological excellence, and in 2006 won the Great British Design Quest, hosted by the BBC’s Culture show and the Design Museum Despite modern advances in science and technology Concorde retired without a successor in 2003. No passenger aircraft has ever been so fast, so thrilling and so sensationally beautiful. Watch ‘Concorde – Supersonic Marvel’: British Design Classics CONCORDE Sir James Hamilton, first flight 1969
- 4. In 1999, Apple took the world of product design by storm with the iMac, which is now recognised to be one of the most important products at the end of the century. It has redefined the way computers are perceived, coming in a range of fashionable colours and using a curvaceous aesthetic far removed from previous computer styling. Jonathan Ive, a graduate from Northumbria University and now Apple’s ‘Chief Design Officer’ headed the design team responsible for the iMac. It was released soon after Steve Jobs returned to the then ailing company, and is widely acknowledged as the computer that helped Apple return to profit, kick-starting the company’s journey to success Ives’s objective was to try and create a computer that was functional and at the same time fun and easy to use. It fits neatly into both the home and office environment, enriching the experience of the user. A detailed approach to every aspect of the product, from materials to the marketing, had made the iMac a turning point in accessible design and technology British Design Classics APPLE IMAC (G3) Jonathan Ive, 1998 Watch Steve Jobs launch the iMac G3 in 1998
- 5. James Dyson had indentified a design problem: ‘Air conditioning is inefficient and is one of the biggest drains of electricity in homes and offices. It’s also expensive and often impractical to install.’ The technology in Dyson’s bladeless fan works by sucking up air into a ‘cyclone accelerator’, similar to that of a jet-engine or a turbo-charger in a car. It means the product has not external moving blades, meaning it is safer to use (and clean) than conventional fans. Furthermore the ‘airflow’ from this fan is more consistent and steady than its competitors. Despite it’s luxurious looks and cutting edge concept, AMO9’s predecessor wasn’t very quiet. Dyson invested £40 million and 65 designers to investigate the problem; in doing so they created 640 prototypes and filed hundreds of patents, they tested the product in soundproof chambers and built translucent prototypes to pass ultraviolet smoke through. High speed cameras provided frame by fame feedback as to where the air was being caught and ‘bunched up’ inside the product. The culmination of this development meant the AM09 is 75% quieter than the AM05. “Arguably the best small heater fan available, Dyson’s newest innovation is powerful and very beautiful’– The Guardian, 15 April 2015 British Design Classics HOT + COOL FAN (AM09) James Dyson, 2015 Watch James Dyson explain his bladeless fan technology
- 6. As much an icon as Big Ben or Buckingham Palace, the curvaceous Routemaster double-decker buses serviced London for over 50 years A pioneering design, the Routemaster outlasted several of its replacement types in London, survived the privatisation of the former London Transport bus operators and was used by other operators around the UK. In modern UK public transport bus operation, the old-fashioned features of the standard Routemaster were both praised and criticised. The open platform, while exposed to the elements, allowed boarding and alighting away from stops; and the presence of a conductor allowed minimal boarding time and optimal security, but with greater labour costs. The Routemaster became one of London's most famous symbols, with much tourist paraphernalia continuing to bear Routemaster imagery, and examples still in existence around the world. Despite the retirement of the original version, the Routemaster has retained iconic status, and in the late 2000s work began on an updated version, which entered service in February 2012. Watch the new Routemaster being discussed and designed British Design Classics ROUTEMASTER Transport for London, 1954
- 7. The red telephone box, a ‘kiosk’ for a public telephone, is a familiar sight on the streets of the United Kingdom, Malta, Bermuda and Gibraltar, and despite a reduction in their numbers in recent years, red boxes can still be seen in many places and in current, or former, British colonies around the world. The colour red was chosen to make them easy to spot. The telephone kiosk was the result of a competition in 1924 to design a kiosk that would be acceptable to the London Metropolitan Boroughs which had, up until then, resisted the Post Office's effort to erect telephone boxes on their streets. The rules stipulated that the box should be constructed of cast iron, be practical in addition to having artistic merit, and cost less than £40 to manufacture. British architect Giles Gilbert Scott won the competition and over 9 years some 1,700 examples were mostly installed in London. Just over 200 remain and on British Streets and these are given Grade II listing status by English Heritage. British Design Classics RED TELEPHONE KIOSK (K2) Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, 1926
- 8. The Anglepoise lamp was designed by George Carwardine (1887–1948), an automotive engineer who owned a factory in Bath that developed vehicle suspension systems. He loved to tinker in his workshop and especially enjoyed developing different types of springs. During these experiments, Carwardine designed a new type of spring which could be moved easily in every direction yet could also remain rigid when held in position. He patented his spring design on 7 July 1932 and set about finding an application for it. Carwardine eventually found a suitable use – a lamp, which, supported and balanced by a sequence of springs, could be constantly repositioned to focus the light in specific directions. He soon found the interest and demand so great that he needed a major expansion and on 22 February 1934, he entered into a licensing agreement with the Terry Spring Company in Redditch, England. Terry's manufactured and marketed the lamp, while Carwardine continued to develop the concept, producing a number of other versions. The original four-spring design was made for working environments, such as workshops and doctors' and dentists' surgeries. British Design Classics ANGLEPOISE LAMP George Carwardine, 1932 Many inventors produce ingenious ideas because they set themselves a goal – such as improving the performance of a particular product or finding a new means of tackling a problem.Yet one of the most successful examples of amateur British invention, the Anglepoise lamp, was invented by accident, as a by-product of an earlier invention:
- 9. There can be few schools, factories and village halls in the UK which do not contain at least one Polypropylene chair designed by Robin Day. Day himself only realised how ubiquitous the chair had become when he spotted his seat shells in a makeshift canoe in Botswana! The seat and back are designed to support the user, with the flexible polypropylene absorbing and reacting to the movements of the user. The chair is also lightweight ensuring it is easy to carry and stack From 1963 to present day, over 14 million chairs have been sold. Considered a revolution in the 1960s, the chair made use of a one-piece seat and back rest, manufactured via injection moulding, using the then new Polypropylene thermoplastic, which, is inexpensive, available in a range of colours, durable, lightweight and easy to clean. Using tubular steel for the legs means the chair is cheap and easy to mass-manufacture. British Design Classics POLYPROPYLENE CHAIR Robin Day, 1962 In 2009 the Polypropylene chair featured on a series of Royal Mail stamps commemorating British design classics.
- 10. What is now a single network of lines controlled by one single organisation, began as a collection of independent underground railway companies that constructed multiple lines in the 19th and early 20th centuries. These companies published route maps of their own services but generally did not co-operate in advertising their services collectively. Early maps were based on standard geographic city maps indicating the directions of lines and locations of station, overlaid on geographic features and main roads. The first diagrammatic map of London's rapid transit network was designed by Harry Beck in 1931. Beck was a London Underground employee who realised that because the railway ran mostly underground, the physical locations of the stations were irrelevant to the traveller wanting to know how to get to one station from another; only the topology of the railway mattered. So Beck stripped the sprawling Tube network down to a neat diagram of coloured, criss-crossing lines. British Design Classics LONDON UNDERGROUND MAP Harry Beck, 1931 Beck's map was initially rejected by the publicity department because it was considered too radical but a successful trial print-run showed that it was just what the public wanted.
- 11. For over a 150 years, the red Pillar Box has been a rare piece of street furniture that helps create a quintessentially British landscape. The premise of the Royal Mail was that anyone could send a letter from any location to any destination in Britain using a prepaid stamp. This meant thousands of post boxes would be needed, with the goal of at least one in every village, town and city Much like the Routemaster and the telephone box, the Pillar Box was part of the school of design when every-day objects were handsome, regular and standardise. Whether you lived in the affluent areas of Mayfair or the deprivation of Toxteth, Liverpool, there was the same standards for public design. The first pillar box were erected at St. Helier in Jersey in 1852, at the recommendation of Victorian novelist Anthony Trollope (an employee of the General Post Office at the time). The first boxes were erected in Britain a year later. By 1859 an improved cylindrical design was adopted for standard use nation wide. See how Machan Engineering in Denny, Scotland, make these cast iron Pillar Boxes British Design Classics PILLAR BOX Royal Mail, 1852