Kenneth Grange is knighted
Kenneth Grange, whose design work includes the TX1 London Taxi, the Intercity 125 train and the first parking meter, has been knighted in the New Year Honours List.
The 83-year-old designer told the BBC he was ‘very pleased’ because he is ‘a monarchist at heart’.
He says, ‘I’m quite a fan of Prince Philip – in our particular trade he’s been very supportive for as long as I can remember.
‘I hope he will be there when I have my investiture ceremony.’
Grange is the only person to have won the Prince Philip Designers Prize twice – in 1963 for the Milward Courier cordless shaver, and again in 2001.
Source: mattbuck4950
The Intercity 125, designed by Sir Kenneth Grange and introduced in 1976
He was a founding partner of Pentagram, is a Royal Designer for Industry, and was appointed CBE in 1984.
The Design Museum held a major retrospective of Grange’s work in 2011, entitled ‘Making Modern Britain’.
Grange said at the time, ‘It is a piece of good fortune to have been working at a time when one designed things for ordinary people and I like that, it appeals to me a lot.
‘Obviously, one is thrilled if there is praise from one’s peers, but I never set out to design for design’s sake, that was never my lot.’
Among others recognised in the New Year Honours list are illustrator Quentin Blake, who also receives a knighthood.
Jacqueline Duncan, founder and principal of the Inchbald School of Design, receives an OBE for services to interior design, and technical illustrator John Batchelor, whose work features in publications such as Jane’s, receives an MBE.
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Kenneth Grange is one of the most influential designers of his generation. I’m not a huge fan of the honours system, but it’s good to see him recognised for the contribution he has made to design.