Pioneering graphic designer Margaret Calvert - the woman who created the Tyne and Wear Metro’s famous yellow logo – has paid a first ever visit to the network more than 40 years on from first drawing its iconic typeface.
Calvert, a designer who did much to shape the visual identity of modern Britain, was in the region this week to collect an honorary degree from the University of Sunderland – and she took the opportunity to see her work on the Metro system for the first time.
Nexus, the public body which owns and manages Metro, said it was an honour to welcome Margaret, whose font will also feature prominently on the new £362m train fleet being designed and built to run on the system for the next 30 years.
Margaret Calvert created the eponymous solid font which has become an iconic and instantly-recognisable symbol of Metro since it opened in 1980.
The Calvert font appears on the large yellow Metro ‘M’ cube logo outside stations and throughout signage within, including giant wall graphics on underground Metro platforms the designer devised as part of her work.
Huw Lewis, Customer Services Director at Nexus, said: “More than 40 years after Margaret Calvert suggested what would become the eponymous Calvert font for Metro her work has become the iconic core of our modern brand.
“It is the true test of great design that it stands the test of time. Margaret’s work for Metro, both the font and the way it is used throughout the system, will be with us for many years to come.
“It was a great privilege to invite Margaret to see our modern system and she was still full of ideas and suggestions on where we go next, as the Metro brand continues to grow and evolve.”
With a career spanning over six decades, graphic designer Margaret Calvert has helped shape the nation's visual identity.
Her work with Jock Kinneir has defined our roads, rail stations, and airports, and her work with Kubel has changed the face of the Gov.UK website.
Calvert is best known for her collaboration with Kinneir on the design of Britain’s road signing system — starting with the motorways in the late Fifties and early Sixties, and finally coming into effect on 1 January, 1965, with the all-purpose roads.
Much of her work has been in the public domain for clients such as British Rail and the British Airports Authority, followed by the Tyne and Wear Metro, which opened in 1980, where she used her own lettering for the signing system.
Now marketed under the name ‘Calvert’, for Monotype, her most recent project has been the design of Rail Alphabet 2, in collaboration with Henrik Kubel, for Network Rail.
Her long association with the Royal College of Art, from 1966 to 2001, included a full-time appointment as Head of Graphic Design from 1987 to 1991.
She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the Royal College of Art in 2016.
Calvert’s work, including her designs for the Tyne and Wear Metro, was celebrated in an exhibition at London’s Design Museum last year.