Sir Kenneth Grange’s influential industrial designs are chronicled in a new book

‘Kenneth Grange: Designing the Modern World’ explores the life and work of the pioneering British industrial designer

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Kenneth Grange: Designing the Modern World by Lucy Johnston
Kenneth Grange: Designing the Modern World by Lucy Johnston
(Image credit: © Thames & Hudson)

The genuine heroes of modern design are few and far between. Sir Kenneth Grange certainly qualifies. Now well into his nineties, Grange is a British industrial designer whose work and influence spans genres and generations, helping define the modern high street as well as the profession itself.

Grange at the meeting table in the Pentagram studios in Needham Road, Notting Hill, late 1980s.

Grange at the meeting table in the Pentagram studios in Needham Road, Notting Hill, late 1980s.

(Image credit: © Kenneth Grange archive. Courtesy of Kenneth Grange, Pentagram and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London)

Born in London's East End in 1929, Grange’s childhood was shaped by vivid memories of the Second World War, as well as a talent for drawing that led him to study art at the Willesden College of Technology. This was followed by National Service and then a first professional role as an architectural draftsman that saw him work on exhibition stands and graphics, including the Festival of Britain.

Kenneth Grange: Designing the Modern World

Grange’s design for the Instamatic 33 series, which launched in 1968 and became an overnight sensation, rocketed Grange to new levels of design fame.

Grange’s design for the Kodak Instamatic 33 series, which launched in 1968 and became an overnight sensation, rocketed Grange to new levels of design fame.

(Image credit: © Kenneth Grange archive. Courtesy of Kenneth Grange, Pentagram and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London)

Lucy Johnston’s excellent new monograph traces Grange’s early life and influences, through to the founding of his first design agency, Kenneth Grange Design, in 1958, and onwards through a career defined by variety.

This photograph of the Cub 3 sewing machine demonstrates the fold-out surfaces, with the front segment also doubling as storage for accessories.

The Cub 3 sewing machine, with its fold-out surfaces and a front segment also doubling as storage for accessories.

(Image credit: © Kenneth Grange archive. Courtesy of Kenneth Grange, Pentagram and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London)

As one of the founding members of Pentagram, alongside Alan Fletcher, Theo Crosby, Colin Forbes, and Mervyn Kurlansky, Grange was well placed to pioneer a multi-disciplinary approach to consumer design. From trains to cameras, lights, pens, post boxes and kitchen mixers, Grange’s work was often at the heart of the consumer revolution without ever losing sight of quality and innovation. 

The first production model of Grange’s revised design for the Kenwood Chef, introduced to great acclaim in 1960.

The first production model of Grange’s revised design for the Kenwood Chef, introduced to great acclaim in 1960

(Image credit: © Kenneth Grange archive. Courtesy of Kenneth Grange, Pentagram and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London)

Five biographical chapters are followed by a chronicle of Grange’s designs that ‘shaped the modern world,’ together with sketches, prototypes and personal insights into their development. Sir Jonathan Ive has contributed a foreword that further cements Grange’s reputation within the industry. Ive writes that Grange’s approach to design as a form of public service made a vivid impact on him, as well as on British visual culture in general. 

A pristine British Rail HST train set, number 254002, pictured static for a publicity photoshoot. This was the second set introduced on the East Coast Main Line between London King’s Cross, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, c. 1978

A pristine British Rail HST train set, number 254002, pictured static for a publicity photoshoot. This was the second set introduced on the East Coast Main Line between London King’s Cross, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, c. 1978

(Image credit: © Kenneth Grange archive. Courtesy of Kenneth Grange, Pentagram and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London / British Railways Photographic Dept / NRM York)

Kenneth Grange: Designing the Modern World, Lucy Johnston, foreword by Sir Jonathan Ive, Thames & Hudson, £50, ThamesandHudson.com, @ThamesandHudson

Available at Amazon

Sketch sheets from Grange’s portfolio showing geometry and colour explorations for the final production HST livery design.

Sketch sheets from Grange’s portfolio showing geometry and colour explorations for the final production HST livery design

(Image credit: © Kenneth Grange archive. Courtesy of Kenneth Grange, Pentagram and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London / NRM York)

The Anglepoise Type 75 Mini desk lamp

The Anglepoise Type 75 Mini desk lamp

(Image credit: © Thames & Hudson)

Where commercial posters become art: another iconic design commissioned by British Rail, this one by renowned graphic artist Per Arnoldi celebrating ‘the age of the train’

Where commercial posters become art: another iconic design commissioned by British Rail, this one by renowned graphic artist Per Arnoldi celebrating ‘the age of the train’

(Image credit: © Kenneth Grange archive. Courtesy of Kenneth Grange, Pentagram and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London / NRM York / Illustration: Per Arnoldi)

A scale model crafted by Grange’s team in his workshop at Pentagram, highlighting the streamlined bodywork. Grange spent endless hours working on a new solution for the for-hire sign that could be seen more easily in sunlight.

A scale model crafted by Grange’s team in his workshop at Pentagram, highlighting the streamlined bodywork. Grange spent endless hours working on a new solution for the for-hire sign that could be seen more easily in sunlight

(Image credit: © Kenneth Grange archive. Courtesy of Kenneth Grange, Pentagram and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London / Black Dog Press)
Jonathan Bell

Jonathan Bell has written for Wallpaper* magazine since 1999, covering everything from architecture and transport design to books, tech and graphic design. He is now the magazine’s Transport and Technology Editor. Jonathan has written and edited 15 books, including Concept Car Design, 21st Century House, and The New Modern House. He is also the host of Wallpaper’s first podcast.