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Best of British Design

65 points · 40 comments · ArisC

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t1234s · 1790629076 · focus · HN ↗
McLaren P1 should be on that list
1. etcetcetcetceta · 1790692921 · focus · HN ↗
  that wouldn't even crack my top twenty British designed cars, let alone this list.
  1. mauvehaus · 1790699278 · focus · HN ↗
    Yeah, the McLaren F1 is iconic and remains fresh-looking today. The P1 is but another mid-engine hybrid hypercar among many. Similarly, the D-type Jag is a better-looking car than the E-type, though I'll grudgingly admit that it's probably less iconic. The omission of anything by Lotus on the bracket is just outrageous though.
    etcetcetcetceta · 1790760094 · focus · HN ↗
    Purely of exemplary design...
    XJR15, XJ220, GT40, e-type, d-type, c-type, xk120 ots, mclaren f1, dbr 1, db4, db5, db7, dbr9, v8 coupe/vantage, series landrovers, defender, rangie, esprit, elise, lotus 49, 72, et al, RS200, 6r4, Morgan, Cerbera, Tuscan, Speed 12, T33, T50, Blue Train, 4½ litre, continental (og), continental (modern), arnage, Rolls...on and on, and on.
    If the question was iconic, like you say it'd be much easier but then the P1 wouldn't even get a mention.
[deleted] · 1790629354 · focus · HN ↗
[deleted]
djohnston · 1790629472 · focus · HN ↗
[dead]
lowbloodsugar · 1790629581 · focus · HN ↗
Spitfire. All day every day. Just don't forget Miss Schilling's orifice.
1. scrumper · 1790631866 · focus · HN ↗
  Hers is quite a story. I think my favorite part of it was when she refused to marry her future husband until he had also won an award for lapping Brooklands at over 100mph on a motorbike, something she had already achieved. (Another lovely detail is that she used her racing motorbike to cross the country from airbase to airbase installing her orifices on Spitfires.)
Anonyneko · 1790629727 · focus · HN ↗
Pillar box vs Dalek is going to be a very intense showdown.
jstanley · 1790629828 · focus · HN ↗
Pretty cool, but it always ends on Spitfire vs Mini and I don't know how you decide.
1. scun · 1790631899 · focus · HN ↗
  I heard you can put a Merlin in a Mini if you remove the front seats
2. NordStreamYacht · 1790643498 · focus · HN ↗
  Easier to buy a classic mini and drive it around than a spitfire.
  mini FTW
Tiberium · 1790629926 · focus · HN ↗
> 64 icons. Six rounds. One winner.
The winner is Claude
1. dofm · 1790637721 · focus · HN ↗
  That is pretty standard sports/quiz show announcer tone, is it not?
2. ArisC · 1790664170 · focus · HN ↗
  Yeah that was a bit lazy, updated!
ssl232 · 1790629966 · focus · HN ↗
Spitfire vs Concorde in my final, and Concorde won.
gherkinnn · 1790629985 · focus · HN ↗
Spitfire or the Underground chart?
Wisdom says underground but the heart screams Spitfire.
1. jjgreen · 1790638548 · focus · HN ↗
  <a href="https://transitmap.net/tate-underground/" rel="nofollow">https://transitmap.net/tate-underground/
vrnmh · 1790630442 · focus · HN ↗
The winner is teapot. 2nd is mini skirt
Transformanshen · 1790630957 · focus · HN ↗
In this bracket my choice invariably comes down to the Spitfire versus the Mini, and I always favor the Spitfire, as the Mini reminds me of the terrible parking
scrumper · 1790631308 · focus · HN ↗
Concorde vs. the Union Flag? In the round of 64? Bah. Impossible to continue.
EDIT Agh now Range Rover v Mini? What do you want from me!?
1. bearbin · 1790631809 · focus · HN ↗
  Voting for a anglo-FRENCH design above the union flag! No contest there (despite the Concorde being a great bit of kit).
  1. scrumper · 1790631971 · focus · HN ↗
    Well chief designer was a Brit but yes that is a fair point. I went with Concorde, rationalizing that the flag is more an evolutionary agglomeration than a conscious piece of design. It's a weak argument I know.
dm319 · 1790632028 · focus · HN ↗
UK road signs won for me. Something about the type-face, colours and design.
heybmac · 1790633088 · focus · HN ↗
Best of lists are always tough. In this case, is it: most iconic, most effective, most influential? I feel this way about film lists, too. The most interesting conversation is not what is the best picture, but which & how parameters are weighted: novelty, craft, cultural zeitgeist, etc.
wicket · 1790633247 · focus · HN ↗
How is ARM not on the list?
gerdesj · 1790633388 · focus · HN ↗
I ended up with two bridges in the final which is quite strange for the owner of an IT firm, but I did study Civ Eng, 27 years ago.
orf · 1790634173 · focus · HN ↗
[delayed]
robotmay · 1790634174 · focus · HN ↗
Mallard (and the rest of the A4 class, though that blue is my favourite livery on any of them) will always be the best for me, but I do love steam locomotives. It's utterly beautiful whilst also being extremely good at its role, and that's the definition of design I believe in.
So much of modern design, particularly vehicles, is missing _something_. Maybe it's the lack of hand-rolled panels and everything being slightly too perfect, or maybe we've just lost a bit of that pizazz over the past 100 years.
TripleDylan · 1790634655 · focus · HN ↗
Hard choices for me, I ended with the Harrier Jump Jet and the Anglepoise Lamp as my finalists. I'm a little sad to see the exclusion of British audio equipment such as the naim Audio NAP 250!
ascorbic · 1790635194 · focus · HN ↗
Not many things make me feel particularly patriotic, but this is doing a pretty good job
kypro · 1790635375 · focus · HN ↗
Surprised myself a bit with the pillar post box being my winner.
I love the British phone box too, but I think because my neighbourhood was built in the 80s I never really saw the traditional red phone boxes when I was young. They were all these, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KX_telephone_boxes" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KX_telephone_boxes
The post boxes are lovely and remind me of my England more than any of the others.
1. onevsall · 1790637545 · focus · HN ↗
  Same winner, and I've never bren to Great Britain. I do not like these. I prefer tier lists where a lot of these would be S tier.
  1. ArisC · 1790664462 · focus · HN ↗
    I mean, almost all these are S tier! But there's something a bit... basic... about S tier lists.
blululu · 1790636212 · focus · HN ↗
This is delightful. Feels like old early 2000s era click spam but the creator didn’t even bother to monetize it. The supermarine spitfire edging out that phone booth is a tough call. This honestly there is something kind of sad about the whole premise. Britain is still so stacked with talent, but it also feels like they’re getting brain drained hard and without an industrial culture to back it up a lot of this talent doesn’t get the same level of visibility as it did in a previous era.
1. ArisC · 1790664245 · focus · HN ↗
  What's sad is that though (as this demonstrates) the British punch way above their weight in design, they make so many bad decisions! Look at council estate signature, for instance...
SwellJoe · 1790636288 · focus · HN ↗
[delayed]
dofm · 1790637462 · focus · HN ↗
This was always going to end up being the Spitfire vs the Zebra crossing.
rahimnathwani · 1790638157 · focus · HN ↗
Here's my chart: <a href="https://best-of-british-design.vercel.app/#r=R_D4nrm510s" rel="nofollow">https://best-of-british-design.vercel.app/#r=R_D4nrm510s
FuckButtons · 1790638736 · focus · HN ↗
I have lived outside the uk now for the majority of the years of I have been able to drive.
The winner was a foregone conclusion, transport signage everywhere else I’ve lived and driven extensively other than the uk is a patchwork mess that has clearly had exactly no thought put into it.
FridayoLeary · 1790639975 · focus · HN ↗
Two interesting choices. The Tube map is on the list. It's been massively downgraded in recent years, becuase the people updating it have no appreciation of what made it great. Here's a tip; if it's not a train and it doesn't go underground then it shouldn't be on the map.
The Union Jack is another interesting choice, because these days apparently it's a racist symbol.
spankibalt · 1790641204 · focus · HN ↗
Damn, quite some brutal matchups! Well, here's [1] my chart. My eternal champion spits fire. :)
1. [<a href="https://best-of-british-design.vercel.app/#r=B1SAjBzqPgw" rel="nofollow">https://best-of-british-design.vercel.app/#r=B1SAjBzqPgw]
ArisC · 1790668382 · focus · HN ↗
Brief write up of the stats so far: <a href="https://logos.substack.com/p/the-best-of-british-design" rel="nofollow">https://logos.substack.com/p/the-best-of-british-design
jonathaneunice · 1790695937 · focus · HN ↗
The Mini, all day, every day. But many other great options along the way!

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