The Man Who Branded London

London’s timeless and iconic lettering – the Johnston typeface – was created a century ago for London Underground and since its introduction it has come to represent not just transport but the idea of London. London Transport Museum is marking the 100th anniversary of its introduction to London’s landscape with a number of events including a series of talks, a special Museum Depot Open Weekend, and behind the scenes Johnston Journey tours.

This series is part of the Transported by Design season, a programme exploring the history and future of great design and how it can affect our journey experience.

Events include:

The Man Who Branded London: Edward Johnston’s Underground Typeface
23 February

Journalist and author Simon Garfield explores the importance of the Johnston typeface and talks about the life and work of the creator, Edward Johnston.


Go West Young Man, the untold story of Edward Johnston
23 March

Johnston’s grandson, television director Andrew Johnston, tells how a trip to the Wild West of North America in 1898 helped his grandfather make the journey from failed medical student to founder of the 20th Century revival of calligraphy.


London’s First Fonts
10 May

Join graphic designers and Central Saint Martin’s academics Catherine Dixon and Phil Bains, and explore the importance of lettering from a designer’s point of view. Discover what the London Underground looked like before the introduction of Johnston’s typeface and the impact his font design had on the look and feel of London travel.


New Johnston: New font - Eiichi Kono in conversation
7 June

In 1979, Japanese graphic designer Eiichi Kono was given the job of updating the iconic Johnston font – a typeface that had inspired him to become a designer. Join Eiichi in conversation along with journalist Simon Garfield, author of Just my type, and Professor Ewan Clayton, author of The Golden Thread, to find out more about how he went about adapting London’s famous alphabet for the digital age.


Johnston Journeys tours
Various dates
Perfect for enthusiasts of great design, these tours have been created to mark the 100th anniversary of the ‘Johnston’ typeface, designed by Edward Johnston in 1916. On the tour you will discover how an expert in mediaeval handwriting devised a marvellously modern typeface, together with an iconic logo, to help make London’s transport easier to use. You will hear about the challenges, and ultimate success, of designs so strong and adaptable that they now represent the idea of London itself.