The Designers Pt3 – Ian Callum, Jaguar

What’s becoming very clear – and not just by people in the business but people around the world – is that car design is starting to really come of age. There was a time when other design disciplines looked at car design as an inferior one but now there’s an enormous interest from other areas. I think there’s a genuine realisation that we don’t just style cars anymore. We are involved in the very make-up and character of them.

2014 was a good year for playful design. The smaller you go, the more youthful it gets, and it’s evident in cars like the Twingo. It’s fun. I’m not sure I agree with the all final detailing of that playfulness but maybe that’s an age thing. I’m glad it’s there and I think it’s quite important. I’m not sure that playfulness moves up to bigger cars very successfully, or at all, but if you look at the luxury market I think interiors are now taking priority to exteriors. The brand will carry the car forwards but the interior will hold you there.

The level of technology in interior is huge now. I’d say our team is pretty much split 50/50 between interior and exterior and when you get to some bits of the programme we’ve got more people working on interior than exterior. Everything interior matters now when it didn’t matter so much before. Right down to the feel, the tactility. The whole emphasis of interior design is broken down to comfort and control. Before it was just four seats and a dashboard.

One thing I’ve done recently is made interior and exterior departments more defined to give us even more focus on the detailing we need to do. With exterior detailing, LED and laser headlamp technology is helping create a whole new aesthetic. They’re getting to a level where you can do what you like. The first XF had bigger headlights because that was all that technology would allow, but very quickly we’ve been able to reduce their size.

“Car design is really starting to come of age. There’s a genuine realization that we don’t just style cars anymore. We are involved in the very make-up and character of them”

Within interiors, we’re developing processes by which you might start off with a base cost car to get through certain price requirements, but have the capability through material choice and engineering processes to bring the car up to something really special. Beyond that you get into levels of bespoke which Jaguar is now starting to take seriously with its Special Operations department. In the last year we’ve really lit up the idea of approaching a car interior like a beautiful piece of luggage. The detail of the leather, the way the materials come together and the perception of how they come together. That’s where the real craftsmanship comes out.

For Jaguar, 2014’s been an enormous 12 months. We are consolidating after many, many years of development getting Jaguar into a good place in terms of profile, design and place in the world, both as a brand and a product. We are now focusing on the delivery of that plan. The F-Type was hugely successful for us in doing that, in letting the world know we are a sportscar company and this cascades down into the brand’s integrity everywhere else. 2015 is gong to be busier still. We’ve got even more cars coming out in the next 12-18 months. New cars which we are working to finishing points and also starting on two brand new projects which will see the light of day in about two to three years’ time. This will be a big step for us.

We’ve got a great team and I feel comfortable that when I do eventually retire, I’ll be leaving a solid rock behind me. I’d like to design another generation of cars and that’s about it. I’ve got other things to do in life. Other things to design. I’m desperate to design a boat – I love to sail – and I’d love to do some [more] watches and some furniture.

At this year’s Geneva Motor Show, Car Design News launched its second Car Design Review yearbook, featuring the production and concept cars our judges voted as best designs of the past year.

As last year, we’ll be publishing world-exclusive interviews with the 13 design judges who decided on the recipient of each of our awards, featuring their individual votes, their views on the year just gone plus their hopes for the year ahead.

If you’re interested in buying a copy of the yearbook this interview appears in, alongside trend reports, bespoke car design infographics and a special feature on our Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Giorgetto Giugiaro, Car Design Review 2 can be purchased here.

Ian Callum

Name Ian Callum
Role Director of design, Jaguar
Age/nationality 60, Scottish
Location Coventry, England
Education Glasgow School of Art, Royal College of Art

Ian’s cars of 2014

Concept

1. Audi Prologue
2. Kia GT4 Stinger
3. Maserati Alfieri

Production

1. Audi TT
2. Citroën C4 Cactus
3. Lamborghini Huracán