Ever wonder who designed road signs? Uncover the untold story of Margaret Calver, the graphic designer who revolutionised the world with her iconic designs. Best known for designing the font and graphics for road signs Margaret’s iconic designs are easily recognised all over the world. Let's explore her fascinating world of creativity and innovation.
The Woman behind Road Sign’s design
Born in 1936, Calvert studied at the Chelsea College of Art and the Royal College of Art, where she honed her skills in graphic design. In collaboration with Jock Kinneir, she played a pivotal role in the development of the iconic Transport font, designed specifically for British road signs in the 1950s. Margaret continued to make significant contributions to the fields of typography and graphic design beyond her work on road signage.
She pursued a successful career as a graphic designer, working on various projects encompassing signage, branding, and typeface design. Calvert designed typefaces for numerous clients, including British Rail, British Airways, and the National Health Service (NHS). Her work often focused on enhancing readability and clarity in public communication. In addition to her design practice, Calvert has been involved in design education, teaching at institutions such as the Royal College of Art. Her enduring impact on typography and graphic design has earned her numerous accolades and awards, solidifying her legacy as a pioneering figure in the field.
A font for all
Margaret designed a fresh new typeface, tailored for swift and effortless readability. Her new font was called "Transport" or "Transport Heavy," this font emerged as a response to the need for rapid comprehension. Commissioned by the British government's Ministry of Transport in the 1950s, her creation boasted clarity and simplicity, keeping an even weight and sans-serif style to help with legibility. With a deliberate emphasis on uniformity and distinctiveness, the font's characters, such as the lowercase "l" and uppercase "I," were meticulously crafted to prevent confusion. For instance the lowercase "l" featured a subtle tail for easy differentiation. Calvert meticulously managed letter spacing to ensure consistent legibility, enabling swift recognition of words. Enhanced by its high-contrast design, the font effortlessly stood out against coloured backgrounds, further enhancing its visibility on road signs.
Road sign Magic
Margaret also crafted the pictograms for road signs, including the pedestrian crossing figures and road maintenance symbols, with meticulous attention to ease of recognition. However, she has expressed regret regarding the road maintenance symbol, believing it resembles a person attempting to open an umbrella, a design outcome she finds less than satisfactory. This I think shows her passion for design and drive to constantly develop.
"I now regret that I didn’t put a corner of a spade on the ‘men at work’ sign, it would have stopped all the jokes about a man struggling to put up an umbrella!"
I love this photo and the fact she embraces her "mistake" by having it on her handbag!
She put her own life into the designs too, such as the design of the cow was modelled on Patience the cow from her relatives’ Warwickshire farm. She also used a photograph of herself as a child for the school crossing, replaced the image of a boy in a school cap leading a little girl, with one of a girl leading a boy. striking a little hint of feminism into her work with the girl in charge.
"'Style never came into it.'" The signs had to display reduced forms that could impart information immediately"
The aim was to create road signs easily legible at high speeds. An archival photograph depicts flat-capped men from the Road Research Laboratory seated in an airfield, monitoring as a car approaches with a road sign for Oldham and Smethwick fastened to its roof. The objective was to guarantee the recognisability of the overall shape of the place name from afar, prioritising it over the reliance on identifying individual letters.
Margaret the master of design
In the design sphere, Margaret is revered for her renowned handcrafted contributions, a practice she continues to favour. Even today, she finds working by hand beneficial to thoughtful design exploration due to the deliberate pace it affords her. Over the course of four decades, she imparted her wisdom as a teacher at the Royal College of Art, becoming of Head of Graphics in the late 1980s to early 1990s. Her influence and legacy were further highlighted by a dedicated exhibition at the Design Museum in 2020/2021, showcasing her iconic designs and influential font. Margaret Calvert's enduring legacy in the realms of typography and graphic design is marked by her pioneering work in creating clear, readable signage and her dedication to handcrafted design principles, cementing her status as an master of design.
A Letter to:
To Margaret Calvert,
Graphic Design is my jam! You are a hero of mine for what you have shown is possible by a woman in the design world. Design is dominated by men so being a leading figure in this competitive industry is amazing and to do something so iconic, I love it! I try to use your principles in my design by making things easy to read. Thank you for showing that women can shatter the glass ceiling in design!
Thank you,
Katie Brennan
