Iain Sinclair® since 1964

Founded by Iain Sinclair in 1964, the design house Iain Sinclair®, conceives, designs and develops highly innovative consumer products for global markets, see our Instagram history

Working with a small team of specialist assistants Iain Sinclair has designed hundreds of products for numerous companies worldwide: Furniture and Lighting, Clocks and Watches, Tableware, together with commissions for Hi-Fi equipment, Intelligent Games Computers and other leading edge electronics based hardware.

His design work is included in the permanent collections of several museums worldwide including New York’s MOMA® (Museum of Modern Art) and Science Museum of London.

Iain Sinclair invented the world’s first ultra thin flat flashlight torch and launched LITEBLADE® under his own brand in 1991. This was swiftly followed by his classic, multi-million selling cardboard torch, FLASHCARD® (launched on the Design Awards BBC® television series of 1994) which is still in volume production today.

The Iain Sinclair invention, EON® of 1997 was the World’s first flashlight to feature white LEDs (also in production, two decades later), utilizing energy saving technology and spearheading a new collection of ultra thin flashlights.

In 2010, Iain Sinclair introduced the highly successful CARDSHARP® folding card knife- the first real innovation in pocket knives since the folding Swiss Army® type penknife, which originated 1800 years ago.

Iain Sinclair has recently developed a new collection of modern furniture and lighting together with an updated knife and flashlight range, due for imminent launch.

1965 TIMEON DIGITAL CLOCK

client: Timeon Ltd
description: The world's first Nixi digital clock. An electro-mechanical device featuring orange, valve like nixitubes that glow through a smokey block of black acrylic.

1967 NEOTERIC 60 AMPLIFIER

client: Sinclair Radionics Ltd
description: The smallest high fidelity integrated stereo amplifier of its period, with unrivalled power to weight, combined a high quality pre-amp and poweramp in one small, unique design. The design featured a solid rose wood control panel, aluminum push buttons, gold plated rotary controls and a sheet steel body casing.

1967 MICROVISION 2 POCKET TELEVISION

client: ITT
description: Microvision 2 used technology licensed from the original Microvision by Sinclair Radionics (the world's first pocket TV set of 1966). Spring loaded protective screen collapses as light shield sleeve is moved forward. Controls pop out for operation.

1972 EXECUTIVE CALCULATOR

client: Sinclair Radionics Ltd
description: The world's first pocket calculator used LED (Light Emitting Diode) display technology combined with small hearing aid batteries. The product is included in the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Science Museum of London.

1975 BLACK WATCH

client: Sinclair Radionics Ltd
description: The world's first mass market digital watch used LED display technology and small hearing aid batteries combined with special circuitry. Not to be confused with the all plastic Black Watch that went into production with many hundreds of thousands being produced - this was designed by a different designer as my proposal, pictured above, was considered too expensive to make and too upmarket in appeal by the client.

1975 MODULUS CHAIR

client: Iain Sinclair
description: Simple i section twin modules construction allowing lower tooling costs and width permutations.

1975 CUMULUS PENDANT LAMP SHADE

client: Iain Sinclair
description: The first of a collection of lamp designs aimed at stores such as Habitat.

1975 MOLECULAR TASK LAMP

client: Iain Sinclair
description: A tension cable runs through the centre of each sphere maintaining a consistent length in whatever position lamp is set. Sphere and sockets are held in place by tension cable which can be adjusted at weighted base.

1975 ASTRA TABLE LAMP

client: Iain Sinclair
description: This lamp was designed to be very low cost, with Habitat in mind who gave us our first retail order. Designed to be Pack-Flat (much like an Ikea product of today), self-build DIY lighting had not yet become mainstream.

1978 FOURFOLD COFFEE TABLE

client: Iain Sinclair
description: Ultra simplistic construction to achieve low cost coffee table with premium build. Four 90º bends convert a sheet of metal into a low height coffee table.

1979 LUPUS POWER AMP

client: Tangent Acoustics Ltd
description: Hi-Fi collection for audiophiles included a record deck, pre-amp, power amp, and tuner.

1980 PALLADIUM VIDEO GAMES CONSOLE

client: Promotors Ltd, Hong Kong
description: Commissioned to rival the iconic Atari 2600 of 1978. Product supplied with twin detachable joysticks for two player gaming.

1983 10-DISC PUZZLE

client: Whale Toys Ltd
description: Ten word and number games on a handy pocket disc. Rotate the rings to form number totals - educational for developing minds - capable of tantalising a genius with 1,000,000 possible combinations.

1983 BUZZ PEN

client: Iain Sinclair
description: A ballpoint pen which allows the user to generate buzz phrases by rotating three separate barrels. The pen was engineered to take standard ballpoint refill cartridges from brands such as Parker. The words can only be seen by the user allowing buzz phrase generation in secret, ideal for management meetings etc. 1000 different phrases are possible and applicable to numerous professions.

1983 PUFFIN FIRE EXTINGUISHER

client: Bespak PLC
description: Compact fire extinguisher engineered to withstand drop tests onto concrete from two metres. Ergonomics allowed single glove handed operation and sliding lock prevents accidental use.

1984 WAFER HOME COMPUTER

client: Saitek Ltd
description: Low cost home computer to rival the Commodore 64 and others.

1984 CAVALETTI TRESTLE TABLE

client: Iain Sinclair
description: A Trestle Table inspired by and named after a horse jump of similar construction.

1985 MENSA STEPS IQ GAME

client: Design Marketing Ltd
description: A series of questions with increasing difficulty were set by Mensa (the high IQ society). With each set of questions answered correctly, a chrome figure trophy is awarded, which only fits on certain pairs of steps thus indicating progress and IQ level. A few players will be awarded the ultimate trophy of a triumphant figure with arms outstretched.

1986 SATURN DINING TABLE

client: Iain Sinclair
description: All glass dining table incorporating 'Lazy Suzan' revolving centre plate.

1988 KASPAROV TRAVELLER POCKET CHESS COMPUTER

client: Saitek Ltd
description: Pocket chess computer that sold in large volume.

1988 KASPAROV SIMULTANO CHESS COMPUTER

client: Saitek Ltd
description: Powerful chess computer which was a market leader in major retail outlets such as Dixons Group UK with production of various iterations lasting over 25 years !

1988 LITEBLADE TORCH / FLASHLIGHT

client: Iain Sinclair
description: The world's first ultra thin flashlight featured a row of sub-miniature, incandescent lamps combined with a replaceable, ultra thin Polaroid battery. The product was launched at the Frankfurt Gift Fair in August 1988 and gained a Design Plus award at the fair.

1990 SUNWATCH DIGITAL WATCH

client: Saitek Ltd
description: The world's first sun-harm warning digital watch. Decades before smart watches became mainstream, this watch allowed the user to enter skin type, suncream UV factors etc. and advised a personal time available for safe sun use.

1992 WAVELOGIC ALARM CLOCKS

client: Saitek Ltd
description: The world's first alarm clocks to use remote activating technology so that alarm can be turned off by waving hand.

1993 PRO ROULETTE POCKET GAMING CONSOLE

client: Saitek Ltd
description: Handheld roulette gambling games computer with clamshell style lid. LCD display graphics included a spinning roulette wheel.

1993 FLASHCARD TORCH / FLASHLIGHT

client: Iain Sinclair
description: The world's first cardboard ultra thin flashlight featured twin sub-miniature, incandescent lamps combined with a flat Polaroid battery, wrapped in a cardboard envelope. The product is included in the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Science Museum of London.

1993 FLASHCARD TORCH / FLASHLIGHT

client: Iain Sinclair
description: Ideal for customisation, the millions of units sold established an entirely new ultra thin shape for flashlights.

1997 EON TORCH / FLASHLIGHT

client: Iain Sinclair
description: The world’s first white LED flashlight was launched at the Frankfurt Gift Fair in 1998 where it received multiple awards including iF Design, Millennium and Gift of the Year awards. Marketed as the ‘Everlasting Torch’, for the first time ever in a Flashlight, ultra bright, white, LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) were combined with special circuitry to produce a pure penetrating beam of ultra bright light. As very little energy is consumed, costly and wasteful battery cell replacement was made obsolete. No lamps to blow, no battery cells to buy or change, as convenient and ultra thin as a credit card.

2001 INTERFACTOR DIGITAL WALLET

client: Siemens
description: Intended to make cash obsolete and a predecessor to Chip ‘n’ Pin, this very early consumer digital wallet was an electronic device that allowed individuals to make electronic transactions.

2011 CARDSHARP FOLDING POCKET KNIFE

client: Iain Sinclair
description: Just three ingenious folding operations turn the card into an elegant pocket utility tool. Less bulky than a pocket knife and as sharp as a scalpel. Cardsharp is the first real innovation in penknives since the first folding knife, which has been around for over 2000 years and is virtually unchanged from today's Swiss Army® knife. Cardsharp is thinner, lighter and due to its use of surgical steel: sharper.