THE VISIBILITY OF GRAPHIC DESIGN
As I travelled home from Glasgow for the very last time, graduated and unemployed, teary eyed and unsure of what comes next, I watched as flashes of blue and white zipped past me. The signs displaying the miles to destination and the arrows of where to next triggered a realisation. I noticed how the motorway signage up and down Britain was formalised, same font, same colour, same spacing, same images. I do not yet drive (don’t worry it is number one on my to-do list before I existentially spiral after university), so I hadn’t really considered road signs before, and I started to wonder how the nationalisation of this system came about.
With a quick google search, I am enlightened, and find out that the flashes that had passed me by are in fact fittingly written in the letterforms named ‘Motorway’ and ‘Transport’’. These two typefaces were designed in the late 1950s by two individuals named Richard ‘Jock’ Kinneir and Margaret Calvert. The letterforms were specifically developed to maximise readability and enhance accessibility. The spacing, the curvature and the proportions were considered to ensure drivers could accurately read signs whist moving at high speeds. Margaret Calvert may not be a name that you have heard before, but her iconography and typography created a network that reaches across the whole of the U.K., and you would be hard pushed to go a day without catching sight of her work.
Born in South Africa in 1936, Margaret Calvert moved to England and studied at the Chelsea College of Art. There she met her long-term colleague Jock Kinneir, formally her tutor, who invited Margaret to be his assistant on a project to develop signage for Gatwick Airport. Following World War II, Britain embraced the skies as an appetite for travel grew. Airports, reconstructed from RAF bases, sprang up across the country and reshaped how people connected with the world. The postwar expansion of air travel not only led to a surge in airport construction, but also to the regulations and formalisation of airport signage. Typography, colour schemes, and symbols were standardised to ensure clarity, safety and coherent passenger experience across all airports. The practice of visual communication was a new phenomenon, and graphic design in Britain was only just taking off. Margaret Calvert was asked to commission a new sign for Glasgow airport in 1964.
The Glasgow airport logo featured four white arrows pointing in every direction, a striking symbol of modern travel, whilst simultaneously echoing the Scottish Saltire. The logo was cleverly designed to convey two key messages: accessibility of travel to Scotland, and accessibility of travel from Scotland. In creating this sense of movement, it quite literally put Scotland on the map. Calvert’s work blended practicality and meaning effectively. Clear communication and distinct typography were integral to her iconography.
Before 1965, driving in Britain was a confusing and complex experience for motorists. Road signs varied widely from one region to another, often using complicated symbols, different colours and inconsistent wording. Recognising the need for a safer and more user-friendly approach, the British government launched a five-year project to improve and formalise the nation’s road signage system. On January 1, 1965, the new standardised system was officially introduced. The design focused on clarity, simplicity, and consistency, making it easier for drivers to understand important information whilst they were on the move no matter where they were in Britain.
Many of Calvert’s pictograms were inspired by her own life. For example, the ‘two children crossing’ symbol imitated a photograph of herself as a child. She drew on personal experience to anticipate what would be immediately clear to drivers, essentially putting herself in their shoes during the design process. While signage and typography are not typically seen to be ‘art’, Calvert’s work demonstrates that design can be both functional and impactful as art ultimately imitates life. Her careful attention to clarity and usability ultimately improved road safety and enhanced the driving experience. Calvert has continued to redefine her own work, taking the classic 1965 ‘men at work’ pictogram and converting it to a modern piece of art exhibiting ‘woman at work’, resonating with contemporary graphic design and social commentaries.
Margaret Calvert’s thirst for modernisation did not stop there, as she continued to teach graphic design at the Royal College of Art for almost 40 years, inspiring the next generation of graphic artists through her passion, and encouraged modern developments of graphic design. Movement was and continues to be revolutionised by graphic design, as the visibility of road signs played a crucial role in enhancing navigation. No less vital is the contribution of women working in graphic design, as Calvert shaped both public spaces and everyday experiences. Her legacy lives on through her willingness to adapt and progress graphic design as an art form while simultaneously metamorphosing as an artist.