Jaguar's fearless design
Jaguar is now in its fourth year at Clerkenwell Design Week and this year sees it come and show off its new F-TYPE Coupé. We speak to Hugo Nightingale, senior designer at Jaguar’s Advanced Design Studio about what keeps them coming back every year.…
The Jaguar installation collaboration with Foscarini
A derelict Victorian warehouse in East London is probably one of the last places you would expect to come across three shiny sports cars on display, but head to the Farmiloe Building in Clerkenwell right now and that is exactly what you will find. Now in its fourth year as headline sponsor of Clerkenwell Design Week (CDW), this week Jaguar is using this beautifully dilapidated historic venue to show off its new F-TYPE Coupé and align itself with London’s most unique design district. We speak to Hugo Nightingale, senior designer at Jaguar’s Advanced Design Studio about what keeps them coming back every year.“Clerkenwell Design Week is a great event,” Nightingale tells us as we stand in the centre of the Farmiloe Building, which this year is home to CDW’s Design Factory and three striking F-TYPEs. “We really like being around all this creative energy and telling the story of our brand.” Nightingale says that most of their designers come along to the show to explore, immerse themselves in trends and new design. “There is a lot to learn about new materials, what finishes are popular, other emerging trends and how materials can be incorporated,” he explains. “It is important for us to learn and experiment.”
This year Jaguar has experimented by collaborating with Italian lighting company Foscarini to create an impressive installation that almost streams from the central heights of the building. “This is really a celebration of light over form,” says Nightingale. The sculpture features a collection of Foscarini’s new totemic LED lamp, Tuareg, tumbling down from the uppers floors of the atrium onto a new Jaguar F-TYPE Coupé, which has been launched this year. “There is a lot of movement in this installation, so it was quite difficult to achieve. But it makes the venue come to life.”
Nightingale, who has worked at Jaguar for the last 10 years and was at renowned Italian automotive design company Carrozzeria Ghia prior to this admitted that he enjoys the slightly more gritty, unpolished nature of CDW and thinks it is important for designers to look outside their realms for inspiration. “This is grass root level design. Whether you are a car designer, yacht designer or furniture designer, events like this are invaluable,” he says, adding that some of the design team also attended SuperyachtDESIGN Week last year for the same reason, to gain inspiration from outside the automotive realm. “Luxury design has been changing over the years. The clients that are buying boats and cars used to just want a quite standard version of luxury, but now are realising that they can get something a bit more unique.”
Fearless Design competition winner 'Untamed Creativity'
Next to the Foscarini collaboration were three other F-TYPEs, one of which was the result of a social media competition that invited designers to showcase a concept that represented the theme 'Fearless Design' using #FearlessDesign on Twitter or Instagram. Entrants used 140 characters to describe the inspiration and details behind their concept and the winner was selected by Jaguar Design Director Ian Callum. The winning design was by freelance interior designer and architect, Justin Silke, and is entitled 'Untamed Creativity’, featuring a white F-TYPE with a colourful freehand spray paint motif on the front.
Car design and what the superyacht design industry can learn from it will be a theme that will run through SuperyachtDESIGN Week next month, with speakers from Bentley, McLaren, Porsche and others lined up. For more information on SuperyachtDESIGN Week and to register, click here.
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