User:Willbaxter1980/sandbox

Will Baxter (born William Richard Le Gros Baxter on 28th July 1980 in Bath, UK) is a British designer and author. His grandfather was Ralph Vibert. Will is best known for being part of the student design team that in 2002 designed the Toniq R, a lightweight sportscar and for authoring the travel book, Around the World in 80 Handbags that was published in 2009. He runs his own brand consultancy in London, named WillB Brand Consultants.

Toniq R
The Toniq R lightweight sportscar was conceived as the final year project of four final year students studying Transport Design at the University of Huddersfield in 2002. Will Baxter, Colin Williams, Paul Phillpot and Angus Fitton. The full size concept car was designed and developed over an intensive six month period with the input of visiting designers from Jaguar advanced design team including Julian Thompson, designer of the Lotus Elise. As a final year design concept, the team's full size (normally students work on their own and develop a 1/5 scale model) achieved them a score of 95% grade - the lecturer David Swann commented that the project couldn't be awarded 100% because it didn't have wheel arches or a windscreen (two items that were added before the Toniq R was unveiled at the 2002 British International Motorshow).

Between 2002-2005 Will Baxter and Colin Williams teamed up with Ian Gray of Stuart Taylor Motorsport to take the design study into full production. basing the car's unique and modern styling on the underpinnings of the Stuart Taylor Motorsport seemed liked a good idea at the time but delays meant that the first production car was only produced in 2004. This was unveiled at the Donington Sportscar show in 2004 with a Honda Fireblade motorcycle engine. The car produced 130hp, weighed 460kg and achieved 0-60mph figures of 4.2 seconds.

In 2004, Channel 4 produced a 15 minute documentary on the development of the car, entitled "Engineering at the Cutting Edge".

In 2005, Will Baxter and Ian Gray of Stuart Taylor Motorsport resigned as directors of Toniq Ltd and left Colin Williams to continue the project alone. The Toniq has gone on to moderate success and is still in production based in Cornwall. In 2012, Will Baxter ordered his own Toniq R, with a 180hp 2.0 Ford Duratec engine.

Around the World in 80 Handbags
In 2009, Will Baxter self published his travel biography that charts his 2007 trip around the world through India, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Los Angeles and New York. "Around the World in 80 Handbags" - perceptions of the East of minimalism from the West of materialism, is an 80,000 travel diary of his findings as he asked random strangers if he could photograph them with the contents of their handbags on display. He then went on to ask them why they owned what they did and learn of each individuals perspective on the world. Will learnt that older, more content people tended to carry less than younger, more ambitious people who required to carry more so that they would be prepared for what lay ahead. Interviewees included a homeless shoe shine boy on the streets of Mumbai, an airline hostess at 30,000ft, a salesman of $3,000 designer mobile phones and a Navajo Indian in Las Vegas.

During the publicity of the book, Will Baxter spoke at the 2008 TNT Magazine travel show and was subsequently asked to appear live on BBC World with George Alagiah and on BBC Breakfast with Charlie Stayt and Susanna Reid whom he asked if he could look in her handbag live on air - she agreed and pulled out a flier from the Horniman Museum and then went on to speak about her children.

300 copies of the book were produced and sold. Will then went on to write but not publish a second book, entitled, Mr Platonic - which was a pop psychology diary of 80 days of dating women but purely platonically.

WillB Brand Consultants
Will Baxter has been running his own brand consultancy working since 2005. This initiated from his 2002-2005 work as an industrial designer for Interfleet Technology, where he was involved in the 2002 Merseyrail refurbishment and the Desert Xpress, before moving onto a more graphic design role within the company. In 2005 he left and set up his own design consultancy, Will Baxter Design Consultants, and then developed gained other clients to support them initially as a graphic designer, before moving onto providing website design in 2008. Other work has included involvement with Gilo Cardozo MBE on the Parajet Skycar and Rotron engine development. In 2011 he re-branded to become WillB Brand Consultants and has extended his service offering to include: graphic design, web development, app development and corporate videos.