Interview with JLR Top Designers, McGovern and Callum

In the run-up to last month's Geneva Auto Show, Jaguar Land Rover released a video interview with both of the firm’s top designers, Jaguar's Ian Callum, and Gerry McGovern of Land Rover.

Regardless of whether you are fan of JLR latest designs, it is interesting to hear them speak together regarding their views on vehicle aesthetics and design, and the direction that each company has followed on its own and also with guidance from parent company Tata Motors. Also interesting were their comments on the importance of 'Britishness', what makes a design “British, and how this concept affects their designs and their customers' response to them.

Says Callum, Jaguar's Director of Design, "Britishness is something that, aesthetically, should be restrained - it can never be vulgar. It's reassuring, elegant and tasteful."

Gerry McGovern, Land Rover’s Chief Design Officer, said: "I don't think you deliberately sit there and try and design Britishness. I think it comes intuitively. The Royal College of Art is a platform for creativity, but you learn so much more when you come out that you have to become a multitude of different disciplines in order to get your designs through."

The two giants of British automotive design were interviewed together for the first time. The interview took place at the Royal College of Art (RCA), where both studied.

In this film, both design visionaries share their views on the importance of Britishness, explaining how this philosophy influences the shape and form of every Jaguar and Land Rover, and how important this design direction is to them and their customers.

JLR created the film to accompany the theme of “Great British Design” that was showcased at the Geneva show, as Jaguar debuted the F-TYPE SVR and the updated XF, and Land Rover displayed the Evoque Convertible and Range Rover SVAutobiography.

At one point, McGovern commented on the demise of the original Defender model after 68 years. “Personally, I’m really excited about, you know, the world has waited 60 years for a new Defender. It’s about time we give them one, and when it comes, I think it will be a pivotal event in Land Rover’s history."