Career
Grange’s career began as a drafting assistant with the architect Jack Howe in the 1950s. His independent career started rather accidentally with commissions for exhibition stands, but by the early 1970s he was a founding-partner in Pentagram, an interdisciplinary design consultancy. Grange"s career has spanned more than half a century, and many of his designs became – and are still – familiar items in the household or on the street.
These designs include the first United Kingdom parking meters for Venner, food mixers for Kenwood, razors for Wilkinson Sword, cameras for Kodak, typewriters for Imperial, clothes irons for Morphy Richards, cigarette lighters for Ronson, washing machines for Bendix, and pens for Parker.
He was also responsible for the aerodynamics, interior layout and exterior styling of the nose cone of British Rail"s famous High Speed Train (known as the InterCity 125) and also involved in the design of the innovative 1997 TX1 version of the famous London taxi-cab. He has carried out many commissions for Japanese companies.
One quality of much of Grange’s design work is that it is not based on just the styling of a product. His design concepts arise from a fundamental reassessment of the purpose, function and use of the product.
Grange was a pioneer of user-centred design, in seeking to eliminate what he sees as the "contradictions" inherent in products that fail to embody ease-of-use.
Grange has been awarded honorary Doctorate degrees by the Royal College of Art, De Montfort University, Plymouth University and the Open University. Since retiring from Pentagram in 1997, Grange continues to work independently. Recent work has included door handles for Ize Limited., desk and floor lamps for Anglepoise, and a chair for the elderly for Hitch Mylius.
The Design Museum held a major retrospective exhibition of Grange"s work, July–October 2011.
The Republic of South Africa site has an audio recording of Kenneth Grange in a discussion of his work. There is also a video interview with Kenneth Grange discussing his design of the Signature Diamond loudspeakers for Bowers & Wilkins on their website.
Grange was knighted for services to design in the 2013 New Year Honours.