Ian Callum wins design award
Jag and ex-Aston designer honoured by RSA
Ian Callum and the Jaguar XK
The award is given in recognition of designers who have ‘achieved sustained excellence in aesthetic and efficient design for industry’ and is presented by the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce).
Callum said: “To gain such recognition from fellow members of the design community is an enormous privilege for me, particularly from a faculty that is not directly involved in the car business. This distinction is a testament to the value of car design and the role that car designers play in the motoring industry.
“Design is a major driving force in the creation of the history of modern motoring and it is an honour for me, and my fellow artists and designers in the industry to have this acknowledged.”
Presenting the diploma at the RSA last Thursday, RSA chairman Gerry Acher said: “As the man responsible for the stunning appearance of the new XK sports car, members of the Faculty of Royal Designers for Industry felt that Ian Callum’s contribution towards the new direction of Jaguar cars should be recognised.”
Ian Callum joined Jaguar from Aston Martin in 1999 and helped in launching the X-Type Estate, the new XJ saloon, S-Type refresh and headed the design team towards the R-Coupe, RD-6, the Advanced Lightweight Coupe and other advanced design concept cars.
His most recent design is the new XK sports car. Design features such as the distinctive oval grille opening, prominent bonnet power-bulge and practicality-enhancing rear liftback all echo the classic E-type -- and many argue that it also echoes the car many see as his finest work, the Aston Martin DB7.
This is not the first time Ian has been recognised by the RSA; in 1975 he received first prize for the Annual RSA college bursary for Industrial Design, and he also received a “commendation” for Furniture Design the following year.
This is the second award for Ian Callum this year. He recently received the Jim Clark Memorial Award, given by the Association of Scottish Motoring Writers (ASMW) to a Scot or Scots who have achieved excellence in the field of motoring.
The Winslet connection
Callum's inspiration for the XK's design was the body of actor Kate Winslet, who's been reported as saying that she was very flattered but that some of the car's details should have been changed.
"The headlights are too small. They will have to go. And it needs a bar under the dashboard with pink and blue neon lights, umbrellas and pineapples," she said.
"And wings, like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. And inflatables, so it can go in water. I absolutely think I should get a free car."
Callum was reported as saying: "Kate Winslet is my ideal woman. She is naturally a very shapely woman, very British with an underlying integrity and ability. Like a car, she has got substance, she is not just a pretty face," he said.
"So I designed the new XK body with her in mind. The interesting thing is that so many woman find sensual cars more appealing as well."
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