It's official - Britain's road signs have been recognised as 'design classics' by the Design Museum.
Created by graphic designers Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert in the mid-sixties, the entire language of the signs we see today was standardised from what had previously been a haphazard assortment of confusing and dangerous symbols, colours and lettering.
New fonts were created and most importantly, upper and lower cases combined to enable place names to be read by shape as well as lettering. For more on this story follow: more....
The signs are so recognisable they can be considered as art in their own right. Tim Blackhouse, sick of cars speeding past his house, decided to paint a giant 30 in an attempt to slow drivers down. It looks brilliant:
Which reminds me a bit of this 'deface-your-own-home' British eccentricity:
SoVibrant - design classics - www.SoVibrant.co.uk
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Related Links:
Design Classic No.007: Aston Martin DB5
Design Classic No.28: The Triumph Bonneville
Design Classic No.38: AEC Routemaster Bus
Design Classic No.43 - Concorde
Design Classic No. 65: Penguin Book Covers
Design classic No. 74: The Telephone Box
Design Classic No.88 - The Egg Chair
Design Classic No. 111: The PH Artichoke pendant lightfitting
Design Classic No.122: The Sony Walkman
Design Classic No.145 - The London Underground Map
Design Classic No. 166: The Supermarine Spitfire 1936
Design Classic No.234: Sinclair C5
Design Classic No.243: The Anglepoise Lamp
Design Classic No.246: Ferrari Dino
Design Classic No.300: Mercedes 300SL Coupe
Design Classic No.325: Ferrari 512 S Modulo
Design Classic No.412: BMC Mini
British Design Classic Stamp collection...
Modern Design Classic No. 71: The Balzac Chair
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