Alan Muir

I grew up in Thurso, Scotland, the most northerly town in Great Britain, and studied graphic design in Edinburgh and Aberdeen. My first taste of professional design work was a short internship at Tayburn Design Agency in Edinburgh, designing promotional literature for the Gleneagles golf course resort. At Haymarket Publishing in London I worked on all sorts of magazines covering everything from horticulture to soccer to automotive interests. Haymarket's acquisition of Racer Magazine in 2001 took me Stateside and I began my automotive adventure. In 2007 I joined what was then Primedia as group art director, working on SuperStreet, Hot Rod, 5.0 Mustang, European Car, and Project Car to name just a few. I joined Motor Trend as creative director in 2011. I love being part of the MT team and striving to keep the Motor Trend brand, including Truck Trend and Motor Trend Classic, at the leading edge of automotive excellence. It's a really good feeling to stand next to someone at the newsstand who's reading Motor Trend. As a teenager in the U.K. the only car I drooled over was the Ford Capri 2.8 Injection Special -- for me that was automotive exotica. When I started my career back in 1989, one of the directors of Haymarket Publishing had a Lotus Carlton, at the time the fastest production car in the world. I would sneak out to the parking lot and have a peek, thinking, "Now, that car has got balls." And it's still on my automotive wish list. I've always felt at home anywhere near the ocean, and I'm lucky enough to live close to the beach in Southern California, where I enjoy cycling and surfing.