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Thomas Josef Derrick Paul Karen (born March 1926) is a British
Interview
for the
Tom Karen: Meet the man who designed the 70s
BBC video {{DEFAULTSORT:Karen, Tom Living people British automobile designers British industrial designers Austrian emigrants to the United Kingdom Austrian people of Czech descent Alumni of the Central School of Art and Design 1926 births Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Thomas Josef Derrick Paul Karen (born March 1926) is a British industrial design
Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical Product (business), products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in advan ...
er of Czech descent. He was managing director and chief designer of Ogle Design
Ogle Design is a British design consultancy company founded in 1954 by David Ogle and based in Letchworth, Hertfordshire.
History
* 1954 Ogle Design was founded and produced many successful designs of industrial and household products.
* 1959 T ...
from 1962 until 1999. He oversaw design of the Bush Radio TR130 radio, the Raleigh Chopper
The Raleigh Chopper is a children's bicycle, a wheelie bike, manufactured and marketed in the 1970s by the Raleigh Bicycle Company of Nottingham, England. Its unique design became a cultural icon and is fondly remembered by many who grew up in ...
, the Bond Bug
The Bond Bug is a small British two-seat, three-wheeled automobile which was designed by Tom Karen of Ogle Design for Reliant Motor Company, who built it from 1970 to 1974, initially at Bond Cars Ltd factory, but subsequently at Reliant's Tamw ...
, the Reliant Scimitar
The Reliant Scimitar name was used for a series of sports car models produced by British car manufacturer Reliant between 1964 and 1986. During its 22-year production it evolved from a coupe (GT) into a sports estate (GTE), with a convertible v ...
GTE, the Anadol
Anadol was Turkey's first domestic mass-production passenger vehicle company. Its first model, Anadol A1 (1966–1975) was the second Turkish car after the ill-fated Devrim sedan of 1961. Anadol cars and pick-ups were manufactured by Otosan Oto ...
A1 (FW5), a series of lorry cabs for Leyland, and the Marble Run toy (sold by Kiddicraft
Hilary "Harry" Fisher Page (20 August 1904 – 24 June 1957) was an English toy maker and inventor of Self-Locking Building Bricks, the predecessor of Lego bricks. He founded the Kiddicraft toy company.
Early life
Hilary "Harry" Fisher Page ...
).
Early life
He was born inVienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
in 1926, but went to school in Brno
Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...
. The family left Czechoslovakia in 1939, and Karen reached England in 1942. He studied aeronautical engineering at Loughborough College
Loughborough College is a general further education college located in Leicestershire, England which offers a range of courses including further education, higher education, apprenticeships and professional qualifications.
List of princip ...
.
Career
He worked for Hunting Percival, makers of the Proctor and the Provost trainer, then theAir Registration Board
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is the statutory corporation which oversees and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the United Kingdom. Its areas of responsibility include:
* Supervising the issuing of pilots' licences, testing of e ...
. He enrolled at the Central School of Arts and Crafts
The Central School of Art and Design was a public school of fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central School of Arts and Cr ...
. He joined the Ford design studio in 1955.
He then worked briefly for David Ogle
David Slingsby Ogle (1921''England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007'' – 25 May 1962) was a British industrial and car designer. He founded the design consultancy company Ogle Design in 1954.
He was educated at Rugby Scho ...
before moving to Hotpoint
Hotpoint is a British brand of domestic appliances. Ownership of the brand is split between American company Whirlpool, which has the rights in Europe, and Chinese company Haier, which has the rights in the Americas through its purchase of GE A ...
and to Phillips where he set up their studio for white goods
A major appliance, also known as a large domestic appliance or large electric appliance or simply a large appliance, large domestic, or large electric, is a non-portable or semi-portable machine used for routine housekeeping tasks such as cookin ...
.
In 1962, Karen was invited to take charge of Ogle Design following the death of David Ogle in a car accident. He was managing director and chief designer until 1999. While there, he designed Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder
Landspeeders are fictional anti-gravity craft used through the ''Star Wars'' movies and ''Star Wars'' expanded universe. They are depicted both in civilian and military capacities, and several versions have been merchandised as toys and models ...
for the Star Wars films; the Landspeeder was built around the chassis of a Bond Bug.
In 1969 Ogle Design under Tom Karen was given the task to design a modern caravan for the recently acquired Eccles brand of caravans for CI (Caravans International) by Sam Alper of Sprite Caravans. The Eccles Amethyst was launched in 1969 at The Caravan and Camping Exhibition. Seen as ‘The Caravan if the Future’ with blown plastic exterior panels and each year the interior would be tweaked to keep the look fresh and modern. Eccles reverted to a more traditional look by 1975 which became one of the best selling caravans in Britain at that time.
Honours
In 2001, Karen received an honorary degree fromLoughborough University
Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...
.
In 2018, Karen was appointed an OBE in the 2019 New Year Honours
The 2019 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...
for his services to design.
Karen on fastbacks
In March 1969, shortly after the launch of the Reliant Scimitar GTE which he had designed, and of theFord Capri
The Ford Capri is a fastback coupé built by Ford of Europe, designed by Philip T. Clark, who was also involved in the design of the Ford Mustang. It used the mechanical components from the Mk2 Ford Cortina and was intended as the Euro ...
(which he did not design), Karen had the opportunity to give his opinion on fastback
A fastback is an automotive styling feature, defined by the rear of the car having a single slope from the roof to the tail. The kammback is a type of fastback style.
Some models, such as the Ford Mustang, have been specifically marketed as ...
designs. He claimed to be "baffled" by "the case for fastbacks" because he thought there was "nothing good to be said for them except that some people think they look alright". "Aerodynamically they're lousy, headroom in the back is lousy, for visibility they're lousy, with a lot of glass they're lousy, from a weight point of view, and they give no boot access".
Books
In 2010 Karen published a book, ''Ogle & The Bug''. A second, autobiographical book, "Toymaker", followed in November 2020.Personal life
Karen is divorced and lives inCambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
.
References
External links
Interview
for the
V&A Museum of Childhood
Young V&A, formerly the V&A Museum of Childhood, is a branch of the Victoria and Albert Museum (the "V&A"), which is the United Kingdom's national museum of applied arts. It is in Bethnal Green and is located on the Green itself in the East End ...
Tom Karen: Meet the man who designed the 70s
BBC video {{DEFAULTSORT:Karen, Tom Living people British automobile designers British industrial designers Austrian emigrants to the United Kingdom Austrian people of Czech descent Alumni of the Central School of Art and Design 1926 births Officers of the Order of the British Empire