Alan Kitching, Pentagram, Build and more create TfL posters celebrating Johnston Sans

Date
25 April 2016

Transport for London is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its Johnston font with poster commissions from 11 designers and agencies including Alan Kitching, Build, Sawdust and Monotype.

The series forms part of TfL’s design and transport series Transported by Design, and marks the anniversary of calligrapher Edward Johnston’s sans serif typeface, designed under the creative direction of Frank Pick. The face was revolutionary in unifying the visual output of the London Underground.

Other designers participating are Magpie, Pentagram, Sea, Studio Frith, Studio Parallel, The Beautiful Meme and Thomas Matthews. Of his poster, Alan Kitching says: “The rationale for the design is simply to combine Johnston’s lettering but using a shadow to give a 3D effect, with the colours used for all the tube lines from Beck’s Underground map.”

The posters will be on show from May at KK Outlet in an exhibition entitled The Language of London, and are available to see and buy at TfL’s Johnston Pop Up Shop in the Additions exhibition at Clerkenwell Design Week from 24 to 26 May.

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Build: Johnston poster

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Pentagram: Johnston poster

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Pentagram: Johnston poster

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Left

Studio Frith: Johnston poster

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Thomas Matthews: Johnston poster

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Thomas Matthews: Johnston poster

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Magpie: Johnston poster

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SEA: Johnston poster

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SEA: Johnston poster

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Emily Gosling

Emily joined It’s Nice That as Online Editor in the summer of 2014 after four years at Design Week. She is particularly interested in graphic design, branding and music. After working It's Nice That as both Online Editor and Deputy Editor, Emily left the company in 2016.

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