Jaguar: Connecting heritage with an electric future
Role:
Senior UX Designer
Duration:
12 Months
Responsibilities:
Luxury brand research, concept development, wireframing, stakeholder management
Jaguar’s new identity set out to challenge the perception of a marque built for an older audience. Its radical visual direction and electric concept car signalled change, but the reaction also exposed a tension: for many people, the future appeared disconnected from the history that made Jaguar distinctive.
The challenge: change without losing identity
The brief was not to undo the new direction. It was to create an About page concept that made it easier to understand. I wanted to show how Jaguar could embrace an electric era while retaining the originality, creativity and attention to detail that shaped its past.
Researching how luxury brands tell their stories
I researched how other luxury brands like Loewe, Audemars Piguet and Burberry communicate their heritage. I focused on how a brand’s history can support a contemporary identity, rather than becoming a separate archive.
Giving ‘Copy nothing’ its context
The new strapline had become a focal point for confusion. I felt that too little emphasis had been placed on its origin in the words of Jaguar’s founder, Sir William Lyons. My concept brought the full quotation into the experience through a dynamic text animation, revealing the context behind the two-word statement.
Alongside the founder’s story, I drew on British artists like Henry Moore and David Bowie. This expanded the narrative beyond automotive history, placing Jaguar within a wider culture of art.
The page also focused on details in the new concept car that reference Jaguar’s history, such as the leaper and the makers mark. By drawing attention to these connections, the experience gave the heritage story something tangible.
The final concept
The resulting concept connected three parts of the story: the founding belief behind ‘Copy nothing’, the creative influences shaping the new vision, and the historic references embedded in the car’s design. Together, they reframed the electric era as a new expression of Jaguar’s identity rather than an abandonment of it.
