Johnston Research

I have been browsing the London Underground website to look at the branding and look at interesting use of the type, one of the main points I want to make about the typeface is its ability to communicate different messages. Going back to a quote I picked up on during Typo London from Freda Sack from foundry types.

"A typeface should be something you can trust but it should also convey authority'

I feel this is appropriate to Jhonston Sans as it has to portray so many different pieces of information such as warnings about not smoking as well as telling people when their next train is both examples of authority and trust. This can be applied to most of the instructional signage around the underground, portraying so many messages and still avoiding the temptation of overpowering the information with ornamental value.

A typeface should support information rather than become the centre of attention

Considerations for colour schemes, mustn't forget about the four colour limitation to the brief.

 I have been looking at how the typeface has been used in the London underground idenity gaining inspiration for the visual hierachy of information and how I could link it back to the identity of the London Underground.
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Also need to remember this is a project in its own right and I still need to communicate the messages that are within the brief! The devil truly is in the details.

Different messages that the typeface has to communicate and how I could use these as quotes in the booklet.
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Authoritative without being being

Again portraying different messages the type maintains the visual language of the underground and separates it from its over complicated environment.

Edward Johnston

Bit of research into his life surrounding the ISTD brief - The Devils in the Details'

Edward Johnston, CBE (11 February 1872 – 26 November 1944) was a British craftsman who is regarded, with Rudolf Koch, as the father of modern calligraphy, in the form of the broad edged pen as a writing tool, a particular form of calligraphy.

Johnston was born in San José, Uruguay. He started teaching at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London's Southampton Row, where he influenced the typeface designer and sculptor Eric Gill. Then he moved on to the Royal College of Art and many students were inspired by his teachings. In 1912 Johnston followed Gill to Ditchling where he died in 1944.

He is most famous for designing the sans-serif Johnston typeface that was used throughout the London Underground system until it was re-designed in the 1980s. He also redesigned the famous roundel symbol used throughout the system.

He has also been credited for reviving the art of modern penmanship and lettering single-handedly through his books and teachings. Johnston also devised the simply crafted round calligraphic handwriting style, written with a broad pen, known as the foundational hand.
In 1921, students of Johnston founded the Society of Scribes & Illuminators (SSI), probably the world's foremost calligraphy society.

 Sourced from Here