The rich history of London Transport’s poster design

The London Transport Museum is opening a new gallery to showcase the rich history of poster and art design, of which it has been an integral driving force since the dawn of the 20th century. The Global Poster Gallery will feature posters for London Transport and the Underground from the Museum’s extensive collection.

Round London sightseeing tour by Abram Games, 1971 © Abram Games Estate and TfL

London Zoo by Abram Games, 1976 © Abram Games Estate and TfL

The launch of the first exhibition, How to Make a Poster, coincides with the opening, and will offer visitors a chance to explore the world of poster commissioning and creativity in the pre-digital age. Visitors will gain invaluable insights into the processes involved in creating some of the 20th century’s most important works in this medium.

These include works by American artists Edward McKnight Kauffer and Man Ray, German graphic designer Hans Unger, and British artists Abram Games, Tom Eckersley, Paul Catherall, and Dora M Batty – the latter of which was a particularly influential female graphic designer in this era.

There is still the Country by Dora M Batty, 1926 © TfL from London Transport Museum’s collection

Busabout by Hans Unger and Eberhand Schultze, 1970 © TfL from London Transport Museum’s collection

A new view of London by Paul Catherall, 2007 © TfL from London Transport Museum’s collection

Jack McKeon, Limerick School of Art and Design

Jack McKeon’s portfolio is impressive in its breadth of media (packaging design, branding, illustration, animation) as well as its range of themes. At times, it’s commercially astute and slickly professional, at others, it’s using animation to explore ideas around community and societal division, or examining Irish cultural idiosyncrasies and the country’s deepening housing crisis.

Although his work started out with an illustrative bias, relying almost solely on imagemaking, his skill with typography emerged over time and is shown across a wealth of both speculative and real life projects, from soft drink branding, to a concept for a non-alcoholic events company, to theatre posters. The Project Arts Centre in Dublin recently commissioned McKeon to create a billboard reflecting on the current state of Ireland’s capital and what it means to those living there.

Laytown Soda Co. posters

Fression branding

Morag Myerscough’s artwork in the sky

Her colourful set of banners marks the first time the flags along London’s Oxford Street have been handed over to an artist.

The installation consists of 105 individual four-metre flags, which have been created using recycled marine plastics. Stretching from Tottenham Court Road on the east side of Oxford Street to Marble Arch in the west, the rows of overhanging flags reveal the message ‘Time for Clean Power’. It’s the first time the flags have been curated by an artist, and the first time they’ve been used to champion an environmental cause.

“My work is synonymous with bold colours and powerful positive messaging. It is so wonderful to see Europe’s busiest street filled with colour and hope,” Myerscough said of the project.

“With this work I wanted to put out an optimistic approach towards our future, if we work together we can help make the changes we need to happen. The oranges, greens and blues represent the sun, sea and air that we need to power ourselves to a renewable future.”

OpenWeb rebrand

OpenWeb’s mission is to build an ‘open, healthier web’ by providing publishers with a framework for productive – and moderated – commenting and conversation. Or, as Collins describe it, to “de-troll digital discourse”.

The platform, which launched in 2012 and was previously known as Spot.IM, is used by the likes of Hearst, News Corp and Yahoo!

OpenWeb’s new identity is the latest example of a company to adopting a purposefully less ‘techy’ approach to branding – Mailchimp, which also worked with Collins in 2018, being another obvious example – signalling that branding’s reliance on the geometric sans serif might finally be tapering off.

United Nations issues a call to arms for creatives to help tackle coronavirus

The brief, which is being managed by Talenthouse, calls on agencies, creative communities and individuals to come up with “iconic and visually arresting” content spanning illustration, audio, video and copy. The content can be related to any of the UN’s key messages around the actions that the public can take to help combat the virus, which include personal hygiene; physical distancing; knowing the symptoms; kindness contagion; myth busting and do more, donate.

“This is the first time that we are fighting a war where everyone is on the same side,” says Clare McKeeve, CEO of Talenthouse’s parent company, TLNT. “Looking back at how the famous Rosie the Riveter and Your Country Needs You posters galvanised the public into action during wartime, we believe the creative community can create today’s iconic posters, images and artwork to impact all communities across the world as part of this global mission to help save lives.”

Image by Kaiq

The open brief is running until 9 April, and submissions will be made available for local authorities, organisations, brands and the public to download from Talenthouse’s website. A panel of industry experts will also be selecting a number of winning submissions to be shared more widely across a range of media channels.

To read the full brief and submit your work, head here

Share

The exhibition, at the Crypt Gallery in Norwich, features the work of five design agencies – Spin, A Practice for Everyday Life, North, Muir McNeil and Graphic Thought Facility – that have each contributed a poster design for the show, as well as a piece of graphic design work that best illustrates each agency’s individual practice. The exhibition was organised by Andy Campbell of Norwich School.

Spin poster for Share

A Practice for Everyday Life poster for Share

North poster for Share

Muir McNeil poster for Share

Graphic Thought Facility poster for Share

Share is something of a rarity by placing graphic design in an exhibition format. While such shows do sometimes crop up at design-focused galleries, graphic design all too often only makes the walls of an exhibition space in the form of promotion or wayfinding. Campbell suggests that because graphic design is commonly set to a brief, it tends to remain framed within that context, rather than as a standalone piece of creative work.

However, he believes graphic design is worthy of an exhibition in how it slows it down and makes us look at the work with a different focus. “I think this is true of all the design-based subjects,” Campbell says. “Some work better than others in the exhibition format. [It] allows one to cherish the design of the work, in a way it takes the viewer closer to the creative part of the process, so they can take time looking at the use of colour, the feel and form of the typography, the format and the material, the things that the designers will have cared for and about.”

Jake Newbury

Jake Newbury’s interests are broad, though it’s clear he’s naturally inclined towards underground scenes. Having recently graduated from the Design for Publishing course at Norwich University of the Arts – where he specialised in editorial design and illustration – the designer has created eye-catching spreads based on streetwear brands like Carhartt WIP and Stone Island, as well as experimental producer Aphex Twin.

Newbury’s penchant for distressed visuals comes through in these projects, but his wider portfolio demonstrates an eye for sleeker styles.

Just over 8 weeks to Christmas Eve!

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Love is in the air

A set of vintage wedding invitations I designed last year.

Flower colour was changed to suit colour scheme 

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