Alec Issigonis was born in 1906 in Turkey and moved to the United Kingdom in 1921. He was an engineer by training but a car designer by trade. Despite the fact that an automobile designer’s work is done as part of a team, an individual can nonetheless take charge of the project and make his mark on the final product. So it was with Alec Issigonis’ designs in the second half of the twentieth century, as seen by the success of his two most famous designs, the Morris Minor of 1948 and the Austin/Morris Mini 11 years later.
Education
He studied engineering at Battersea Technical College.
Biography
He worked in a London design office for four years before joining Rootes Motors as a draughtsman and, finally, chief engineer. In 1936, Issigonis joined Morris Motors to work on the Morris Minor’s concept. The Morris Minor was a groundbreaking car when it was introduced in 1946, and it remained in production for more than 20 years. It was also reasonably competitive in the United States, where it sold at a rate of 15,000 per year at one point. Its styling was influenced by late-1940s American automobiles.
Mini Minor
But it was the Mini Minor, which debuted in 1959, that cemented Issigonis’ place in automotive history. The need to minimise fuel consumption became a primary concern for the automobile industry after the 1956 Suez oil crisis. The Mini was explicitly built to be fuel-efficient.
The Mini was a huge hit, not just because of its technical prowess but also because of its unique body design, which appealed to a wide range of people. A total of 5 million models were made. It had front-wheel drive and a fully independent suspension system, and it could reach 50 miles per gallon and speeds of 70 miles per hour. It was also easy to park and manoeuvre. For his ‘Lightweight Special’ hillclimber car, which he built with George Dawson and elements of which were adapted for the Mini production line, Issigonis created a rubber suspension system.
Issigonis maximised interior space in the Mini by positioning the engine sideways. Overall, Issigonis’ practical and common sense approach to design was evident in the Mini. As his drawings for the Mini show, he had the functional abilities of an engineer and a designer’s vision.
Later career
In 1961, Issigonis was appointed chief engineer and technical director of the British Motor Corporation. Issigonis was the engineering director of what had become Austin Rover when he retired at 65.
Issigonis also worked on various other vehicles, including the Austin Seven, the Morris 1100, and various Minis (Mini estate). A minivan. Miniature Moke). In 1969, he was knighted. He also received the CBE in 1964, the Leverhulme Medal in 1966, and the Fellowship of the Royal Society in 1967. His retirement marked the end of a period of experimentation and radicalism in the British small vehicle market that has yet to be matched.
Sources
Dormer, P. (1999). The illustrated dictionary of twentieth-century designers: the key personalities in design and the applied arts. Greenwich Ed.
Sparke, P. (2002). A century of car design. Mitchell Beazley. Retrieved from https://amzn.to/3nCc2Sh.
More British Industrial Design
-
Harold Stabler (1872 – 1945) British ceramicist, enameller, jeweller and silversmith
Harold Stabler’s lengthy, illustrious career began in the Arts and Crafts movement and extended into the modernist era. Over the 50 years or so he devoted to the arts, he created an astounding diversity of highly regarded pieces, both unique and mass-produced, in various mediums and styles. Read More →
-
Abram Games (1914 – 1996) British graphic and industrial designer
In acknowledging his power as a propagandist, he claimed, “I wind the spring and the public, in looking at the poster, will have that spring released in its mind.” Read More →
-
Iittala Raami 12-Ounce Glass Bowl, Sea Blue, by Jasper Morrison
Raami, designed by Jasper Morrison, adds a touch of effortless beauty to any space. Simple, adaptable, and high-quality tableware is framed by careful design that allows the room to take on its own personality. Breakfast, desserts, and cold meals go well in this sea blue Raami bowl. Finland-made pressed glass.Read More →
-
Perry King (b. 1938 ) British industrial, graphic and product designer
He worked at Olivetti, where he designed office machinery, starting in 1956. He collaborated with Hans Von Klier on C. Castelli’s corporate design program. He was designing dictating machines for Süd-Atlas Werke in Monaco and electronic apparatus and control systems for Praxis in Milan.Read More →
-
The 40s and 50s – On the Road with Design
The exaggerated style was an essential look. The gleaming chrome fins conveyed speed. A car that was higher in the front than the back did the same. The quality of the car’s face — two headlamps for the eyes, a grill for the nose, and a fender for the mouth – was frequently highlighted. This gave the vehicle the appearance of a devoted companion with a distinct personality.Read More →
-
Alec Issigonis (1906 – 1988) British vehicle designer
It was the Mini Minor, which debuted in 1959, that cemented Issigonis’ place in automotive history. The need to minimise fuel consumption became a primary concern for the automobile industry after the 1956 Suez oil crisis. The Mini was explicitly built to be fuel-efficient.Read More →
-
Christopher Dresser (1834 – 1904) – British Industrial Designer
Dresser was a one-of-a-kind designer in the nineteenth century. He is regarded as a forerunner of modern industrial design, creating simple, practical things for mass production when colleagues like William Morris and John Ruskin advocated a return to craft production based on the mediaeval guild model.Read More →
-
Matthew Hilton (b.1957) British furniture & product designer
Hilton graduated from Kingston Polytechnic in 1979 after attending Portsmouth College of Art and then Kingston Polytechnic. He worked as an industrial designer and model maker till 1984 after graduating.Read More →
-
Teapot with warmer by Christopher Dresser
He developed a variety of every day goods for silverware manufactures in London and Birmingham between 1865 and 1885.Read More →
-
Sinclair Microcomputer – Design Object
Sinclair ZX80 microcomputer, personal computer, plastic/metal / electrical components, made by Sinclair Computer Ltd, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, 1980. Sinclair ZX80 personal computer, or home computer, is a white plastic unit encasing a single printed circuit board. A small black keypad is located on the front of the unit. A QWERTY keyboard is formed by a black sheet of plastic printed in grey and red, with each key having various purposes.Read More →
-
David Gentleman (b.1930) British graphic artist & designer
His subjects are paintings of landscapes, environmental posters and sketches of street life, and protest signs. He has written and illustrated several books, most of them are about countries and cities. He also produced several commemorative postage stamps for the United Kingdom.Read More →
-
Milner Gray (1899 – 1997) British Industrial & Graphic Designer
Gray was a fellow student and friend of artist-designer Graham Sutherland at Goldsmiths College School of Art, London University, where he studied painting and design. He served in the Royal Engineers during WWI when he was involved in camouflage work like other famous artists and designers from both wars. Read More →
-
Sebastian Bergne (b. 1966) – English / Italian industrial designer
The phrase ‘less is more’ perfectly encapsulates the core of these works, the quality of which can only be attained by a proper understanding of form.Read More →
-
What was the Society of Industrial Artists in Britain?
The origins of the CSD lay in the creation in 1930 of the Society of Industrial Artists (SIA) in Britain, when the public debate was concerned with the nature and definition of both the designer and the design profession. Read More →
-
Design Classic – Kodax ‘Brownie’ 44a Camera 1960
In the early 1960s, this camera was made. It was simple to load and hold and relatively light, and it was exceptionally well constructed for such a low-cost item. Read More →
-
Royal Designer for Industry
The British Royal Society of Arts (RSA) established the Royal Designer for Industry designation in 1936 to encourage high-quality industrial design and elevate the reputation of designers. It is given to persons who have demonstrated “consistent excellence in beautiful and efficient industrial design.”Read More →
-
Nigel Coates (1949 – ) English architect and designer
He co-founded Branson Coates Architecture with Doug Branson in 1985 before opening his architecture and design studio in 2006. He was a partner in the Branson Coates architecture and design studio and the founder of the radical NATO (Narrative Architecture Today, established in London in 1983) design group (established in 1985).Read More →
You may also be interested in
George Sowden – British/Italian Designer – Encyclopedia of Design
George James Sowden is a British designer. He was born in Leeds and active Italy. Between 1960-64 and 1966-68, he studied architecture, Gloucester College of Arts. George Sowden Designer He settled in Milan in 1970, joining the Olivetti studio headed by Ettore Sottsass, where he developed design ideas concerning information technology.
Christian Barman (1898-1980) British industrial designer – Encyclopedia of Design
Christian Barman (1898-1980) was a key first-generation British industrial designer during the interwar years. He is best known for his 1936 electric iron for HMV, which he started designing in 1933. He studied architecture at Liverpool University and ran his practice until Frank Pick invited him to join London Transport as a Publicity Officer in 1935.
William Morris – Beauty of Practicality
Born March 24, 1834 “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or beautiful.” That was the rallying call of the nineteenth-century designer, William Morris, a British designer and social reformer. He aimed to rid the world of shoddy mass-produced goods and replace them with objects that were designed and made by artists.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.