Margaret Calvert, OBE
Iconic British graphic designer and typographer Margaret Calvert was made an OBE for her services to typography, graphic design and road safety in June. Calvert’s work is synonymous with the British road and rail network – together with her friend, Jock Kinneir, Calvert designed both Britain’s road signage system and the Rail Alphabet typeface for British Rail.
Calvert and Kinneir also designed two typefaces as part of their work for the UK’s road network – ‘Transport’ and ‘Motorway’. Using a combination of upper and lowercase lettering, they painstakingly searched for the combination which would be the most legible in all kinds of extreme conditions, spending years testing their creations in rain, at night and at speed.
They’re still the only fonts allowed on UK road signs.
What else happened in June?
- Britain voted to leave the European Union on 23 June
- We published our list of the world’s ugliest buses
- Sam Jessup, head design chap at Virgin Trains, joins our team of writers