Typeface for Transport

Eiichi Kono, Graphic Designer, Edward Johnston Foundation and Senior Research Fellow at University of Brighton will be speaking at the Sign Design Society. His presentation, entitled Typeface for Transport for London: How Johnston Sans was saved, is on Wednesday 2 April 2008, 6.30pm at fwdesign, The Old School, Exton Street, Waterloo, London SE1 8UE (nearest tube: Waterloo Station).

Since its first appearance in 1916, Johnston Sans remains one of the key elements in what has become one of Britain’s most extensive corporate identity projects, encompassing everything from station signs to route maps, timetables and posters.

By the 1970’s, the identity of London Transport was crumbling, in danger of becoming lost in the flood of new typefaces with new printing technology, and ever increasing publicity needs.
Between 1970 and 1980, at a time when the bridge from metal type and woodletter to digital had not been fully built, Johnston Sans was modernised and expanded to meet these new demands.

While a few original signs and notice boards are still seen around London Underground stations, all the signage and publicity materials for Transport for London and Mayor of London are now typeset in “New Johnston” working on Mac and PC.

This talk is about the process of the revitalisation of the font. This world famous identity is still alive and well, but will need to continue to evolve.