July 30, 1954
Ian Callum was born in Dumfries, Scotland. At the age of 14, he made his first attempt at designing a Jaguar car and submitted his sketches to the company in hopes of getting a job. He was educated in industrial design, first graduating from the Glasgow School of Art and then from the Royal College of Art in London with a master's degree in automotive design. The first serious place of work of the designer was Ford. From 1979 to 1990, Callum managed to check in at many blue oval offices around the world: British, Italian, and even Japanese and Australian. The Scot continued his career in the British engineering company TWR (Tom Walkinshaw Racing), of which he was appointed chief designer in 1991. It was here that his talent as an automotive “artist” was fully revealed: by order of Aston Martin, Callum painted an incredibly beautiful DB7 coupe, which began a new era in the history of the legendary British brand. He came to Jaguar in 1999, marking a new era in the development of the brand. Under his leadership, such innovative and at the same time attractive models as the Jaguar XK, the luxurious XF and the stunning flagship Jaguar XJ have been developed. Yang has received five honorary doctorates from universities around the world and the title of Royal Industrial Designer from the Royal Society of Arts (RSA). Ian Cullum was one of the first automotive industry representatives to be inducted into the Scottish Motoring Hall of Fame. In 2013, he was named Top Gear's Person of the Year, in 2015 he won the prestigious Designer of the Year award, and was ranked #1 in Designerati's Top 100 UK Designers by The Drum.