DESIGN

DESIGN F rom its earliest days – before the brand even became Jaguar – co-founder William Lyons had a keen eye for good design, marketing and sales. According to Nigel Thorley in Marketing the Marque, Lyons was a fan of the Art Deco movement popular in the 1920s and early 1930s and this is clearly reflected in early advertising for the then SS Cars brand – which stood variously for Standard Swallow, Swallow Special or Swallow Sports. Indeed, the importance of advertising is behind Jaguar becoming a model and then a brand. According to Jaguar Design: A Story of Style by Nick Hull (featured separately in this issue, see p10) Lyons was good friends with Bill and Bob Bett who ran Nelson Advertising, and, concerned with the negative associations of the SS initials even before WWII, came up with the name Jaguar. A reticent Lyons initially compromised by christening his 1935 car the SS Jaguar before the whole company was renamed in 1945. And the rest, as they say, is history... 1936 1961 WILLIAM LYONS WAS INFLUENCED BY ART DECO AND THIS IS CLEARLY REFLECTED IN EARLY ADVERTISING COVER ART Co-founder William Lyons fostered good relations with the media and regularly advertised on The Autocar’s front cover, like this 1936 edition (left) for the SS Jaguar. “Grace, space, pace” was a famous tagline used over many decades including this 1961 example featuring (from top) the Mark 2, Mark 10 and E-Type. Right: This 1970 US advert for the E-Type draws on the brand’s big cat connection 52 j THE DESIGN ISSUE

1970 THE DESIGN ISSUE j 53