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Margaret Calvert’s radical road signs
The historical context that influenced the United Kingdom’s beautifully eccentric road signs
It is near impossible to drive in the United Kingdom and not encounter Margaret Calvert’s work. The signage is neat and spartan but extremely beautiful. The signs blend into the background of the city and the country, and one almost fails to notice that they are there until you need them or they need to make themselves noticed. This Jeeves-like quiet efficiency of the signage is no accident. Rather, it is the result of a subtle British design sensibility that is richly enhanced by Calvert’s eccentric illustrations.
One particular example, first introduced in 1964, is the logoform that takes the shape of a red-bordered triangle with a white field in which a little black logoform girl holding hands with a smaller boy cross a road. This sign has served as a reminder to motorists to slow down near schools for more than half a century.
Scratch under the surface of some of these road signs, wonder why they look a certain way, and a fascinating story emerges about how a designer’s random style choices, experiences and…