Post for Grinyer at Design Council

Product designer Clive Grinyer is to quit Tag MacLaren Audio to take up the new post of director of design and innovation at the Design Council. His former employer is meanwhile looking for a replacement who can follow on from the work he has started.

According to Design Council chief executive Andrew Summers, Grinyer’s role at the council will be different from that vacated at the end of 1999 by Sean Blair, previously director of design and communications. After Blair left, the council initially trawled for a director of design and development (DW 5 November 1990), but has since added “innovation” to the title.

Grinyer will be “driving hard to bridge the gap” between research and development and design within industry, says Summers. He and his team of five staff will “build a world-leading knowledge resource to show how design works effectively in business”.

He will work with organisations such as the Confederation of British Industry and Government bodies to “develop knowledge tools”, says Summers.

Grinyer, who has worked with consultancies Tangerine (which he co-founded), Ideo and Fitch, plus Samsung and Tag MacLaren Audio, says he hopes to bring the design community more closely into the equation.

He is expected to join the Design Council in February, when he has completed his three-month notice period at Tag MacLaren Audio. He joined the Huntingdon-based hi-fi specialist as product design head two years ago (DW 16 October 1998), and during his time there has developed a range of high-end domestic hi-fi products.

According to Tag MacLaren Audio chief executive officer Dr Udo Zucker, Grinyer’s departure is amicable. “Clive has received a fantastic job offer and we understand why he is following that call,” he says.

Zucker adds that the search is on for a replacement who can appreciate the need to combine both technology and style in a way that appeals to the “conservative” hi-fi market.