Interview [Interview Tom Karen]

FROM THE classic Chopper bike and the Marble Run toy to the quirky three-wheel sports car called the Bond Bug, there\´s something playful about all Tom Karen\´s work as an industrial designer. For 37 years, he headed up Ogle Design, steering it to become the country\´s leading independent design house for transport and products. Now in his 80s, Karen shows me around his Cambridge home, a combination of gallery, workshop and prototyping centre. Toys-in-progress cover his workbench, and he demonstrates several models to me. "I try things out on my grandchildren - they love coming to visit," he says. You can certainly see why.