Born in 1970 in the English midlands, amidst spacious countryside, Guy Burgoyne kept himself entertained by drawing. Armed with his trusty pen and pad, he would sketch up ideas that rushed into his head.

"It was great! No neighbours for miles and just open space all around. My parents worked hard on the farm, helped by my two older brothers. So I was the odd one out," he quips.

Guy adds, "My parents really didn't know how to help me until we learnt about an industrial design course at a nearby university, I knew that was perfect for me."

The course offered by Coventry University, specialised in transportation and had the perfect mix of creativity and need to challenge the constraints of engineering. Coventry, incidentally, was once the hub for the European car industry.

Guy worked as a freelance designer during his university days and after four years, armed with a BA (Hons) in Transport Design, he went on to obtain a Masters in Automotive Design.
He then joined an automotive design consultancy firm for a few years, serving various automotive clients and gaining experience on numerous transportation projects (from scooters to interiors for Rolls Royce).

In 1995, Guy began unleashing his creative sparks in the Scandinavian studios of the Volvo Car Corporation, where he continues to work from. He was part of the team that created the first Volvo XC vehicle (cross country), and was responsible for the design of all its unique exterior and interior parts which still form the foundation of the XC70 design language today. He was also responsible for the interior design on S40, V50, the much talked about C30, and the new C70 that is being launched in Asia.

Attending the Singapore launch at the Volvo Showroom along Alexandra Road, Guy provided an insight into the design of the C70, in particular, the revolutionary centre-stack which he was responsible for, from concept to production.

First introduced in the Volvo S40, the elegant centre-stack design will gradually be introduced into the entire sedan line of Volvo cars. With a distinct design language-one that perfectly reflects Scandinavian design values, it successfully attains the perfect balance between form and function, beauty and intelligence.

"Although I was responsible for a number a designs, the centre-stack is the one I am proudest of, even though it gave me lots of grey hairs over the four-odd years it took to come into production. It has obvious ties to Scandinavian furniture, classic and timeless in design," reveals Guy.

He feels lucky to be in the company of creative, versatile and determined designers and engineers whose collective belief had seen the project through. On any given project, Guy would be directing a diverse team of designers hailing from countries like Canada, France, Spain and the United States.

When not working or travelling across the globe on business, Guy tries to find the time to head home to England to spend time with his family. Otherwise, he might be found on the snowy Scandinavian slops snowboarding. He also enjoys movies, reading, and travel photography.

Guy drives a 1962 Austin Healy Sprite but aside from its leather seats, there is nothing sophisticated about its interior, unlike the innovation he puts into his present designs.

He observes, "While exterior car designs have no doubt changed over the decades, with interiors, there is more opportunity to change."