As head of the London Underground in the 1910s and 1920s and of the newly merged London Transport in the 1930s, FRANK PICK (1878-1941) was instrumental in establishing the world’s most progressive public transport system and an exemplar of design management.

From the red, white and blue roundel that has symbolised the London Underground since the 1910s and the diagrammatic map which enabled 1930s Londoners to find theirZ way around the fast-expanding underground train network, to publicity posters and upholstery fabrics created by famous artists such as Man Ray and Edward Nash, many of the best known – and best loved – images of London were commissioned by one man, Frank Pick.

First issued in Directions 51

By Bruce Herbes

Bruce Herbes from Visualvoice tells us about the work he has done to create a user-friendly, integrated signage system that will enable people to choose the most appropriate, sustainable travel options for them to explore and enjoy the region. The solutions include a map-based family of signs, supported by directional and route-marking signs. This article gives an overview of the design, the research and the implementation of the project.

First issued in Directions 51

The M1 motorway is over fifty years old, and the iconic road signs that guide people along it are even older. Margaret Calvert worked with Jock Kinneir to produce the modern system of traffic signing introduced in UK in 1964. This system has been copied throughout the world and received much acclaim, being described as the “corporate identity of Britain”. Margaret wrote this insightful article sharing her experience of the project, largely focusing on the sign typeface, for the book ‘Graphic Design Since 1950’ produced by Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) in 2007.

First issued in Directions 50

By Mike Wolff, Chairman, The Sign Design Society

The purpose of Sign09 was to bring together and inform people involved in the discipline, to offer education and networking opportunities and to improve awareness of the social and commercial importance of this often underestimated aspect of environmental design. From 3rd to 11th December 2009, IIID and the Sign Design Society organized a 9-day seminar on signage and wayfinding in Vienna, Austria. The seminar was a joint initiative between the International Institute for Information Design (IIID) and the Sign Design Society (SDS), with the overall goal to contribute to a better understanding of the importance of signing and wayfinding and to encourage greater focus in the design disciplines, industry and education.