Woman at Work
Margaret Calvert

The first book dedicated to the work of a pioneer of design for public service, a groundbreaking typographer and recipient of this year’s New York Type Directors Club Medal

664backers £78,640.73of £60,000 pledged
131% funded

Overview

Margaret Calvert is one of the most important British graphic designers of our time. Her groundbreaking work on the signs for the British national road network means that it is almost impossible to travel anywhere in the UK and not benefit from her ultra-clear typography and cheerful pictograms. Her work has provided the gold standard for international highway directional signs. In a parallel career she became an inspirational teacher at the Royal College of Art, where for nearly four decades she taught a generation of graphic designers, many of them going on to establish worldwide reputations.

Born in South Africa in 1936, Margaret came to the UK with her mother and sister in 1950. After studying illustration and printmaking at Chelsea School of Art, she was invited by visiting tutor Jock Kinneir to assist him on designing the signs for Gatwick Airport (she had just turned 21). When Kinneir was put in charge of designing a new system for British road signs, it was the beginning of a long working partnership that led to the creation of the now famous road signing for the motorways alongside a complementary approach for the entire network, including pictograms, and onto work for the British Airports Authority, British Rail and the Tyne and Wear Metro in 1980. Margaret designed the lettering for the latter project, which is now available from Monotype as the Calvert typeface.

And now, at a time of unprecedented interest in Margaret’s work, which has included a recent Design Museum exhibition, a TV documentary currently in production, and a host of prestigious awards including this year’s New York Type Directors Club Medal, there is a book to celebrate her life and work. It is the definitive account of her career as a pioneering typographer, type designer, graphic designer and educator. Lavishly illustrated with rare glimpses into her archive and details of her legendary typefaces, it is designed by Margaret and A2/SW/HK, the studio co-founded by her frequent creative partner (and former student) Henrik Kubel and Scott Williams. The book is edited by Adrian Shaughnessy, with an introduction by Eye magazine editor, John L. Walters and an essay by Margaret’s friend and former student Marion Deuchars.

Film by Bruce Brown.

Specification

285 × 210mm
240 pages
Hardcover

Paper: 157gsm Oji Zumma Matt Art FSC
Binding: Hardback
Design: Margaret Calvert and A2/SW/HK
Editor: Adrian Shaughnessy

Special edition as above but with foil-blocked slipcase bound in red imitation cloth

Welcome to the progress area for Woman at Work. Check back soon for development updates.

Estimated delivery
Autumn 2025

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How it works

If our funding goal is met before GMT this project will commence development. All pledges will be immediately refunded in full if the funding goal is not met.

Estimated delivery

Autumn 2025

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Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert’s graphic design amounted to a house style for Britain, characterised by the use of sans serif alphabets with careful and sparing use of colour and a great attention to detail.

Phil Baines, ‘A Design (To Sign Roads By)’, Eye magazine

The Book

Margaret Calvert: Woman at Work is extensively illustrated and arranged over four main chapters. The first examines Margaret’s early life, including her time in South Africa, her arrival in the UK and time at Chelsea School of Art. Chapter two looks at her early clients and work with Jock Kinneir on the British motorway and road signs, alongside other professional projects. The third chapter focuses on Margaret’s time at the Royal College of Art and considers her teaching philosophy, while chapter four details her career as a solo typographer and designer.

Publisher

Unit Editions

Profile

Unit Editions is an independent publishing venture, producing books for an international audience of designers, design students and followers of visual culture. The company is hugely experienced in the production and delivery of books and publications, using only high quality suppliers (printers, binders, etc.) and distributes titles globally on a daily basis.

Special Edition

The special edition of Margaret Calvert: Woman at Work features a slipcase, designed by Margaret and A2/SW/HK, displaying Diagram 545 (S2-2-25) from the UK traffic sign indicating ‘children going to or from school or playground ahead’ (Traffic Signs Manual). Each copy of the special edition is signed by Margaret.

She still designs typefaces everyday. There’s no-one who can crit the interior of a circle of an ‘O’ like Margaret Calvert. She has made life better for an entire country.

Paula Scher, accepting the New York Type Directors Club Medal on behalf of Margaret Calvert

Road Sign Editions

We’re delighted to offer backers the chance to pledge for their very own life-size road sign designed by Margaret. The Woman at Work sign (edition of 100) is a variation on the classic road works design (the so-called ‘men at work’ sign) she created as part of the UK traffic signs programme of the mid-1960s.

Margaret’s Keeping an Eye on Climate Change sign (edition of 25) references the ‘eye’ that featured in the original Design Centre signage in London and is based on Diagram 562, the symbol warning of temporary hazards or ‘permanent features not easily represented symbolically’ (Traffic Signs Manual).

Both signs are produced as Aluminium Composite Panels (ACM) and rendered in R2 reflective vinyl, as used on permanent signs on major roads. They are gloss laminated (A142) and measure 600 x 600mm. Each sign is also signed on the reverse by Margaret.

A3 Traffic Typeface Print

Taking inspiration from traffic signs, Margaret produced the typeface A26 for Neville Brody’s FUSE publication in 1994. An exclusive A3 print, including both upper and lowercase of the typeface, printed with a quadruple-hit white on 270gsm Ebony Colorplan stock, is available as part of our reward offering, as detailed above.

Design for me is a process. It’s head, heart and hand, basically. It’s about improving things.

Margaret Calvert, Life in Design, Design Council film
Meet the author

Margaret Calvert (OBE RDI) was born in South Africa in 1936. She moved to England with her mother and sister in 1950 and attended St Paul’s school in London before studying illustration and printmaking at Chelsea College of Art. Invited by visiting tutor Jock Kinneir to assist him on the Gatwick Airport signs, Margaret worked with Kinneir on a range of projects during the late 1950s and 60s, including the design of the British road signing system which began with the motorways and concluded with a complementary system for the entire network. Kinneir Calvert and Associates was formed in 1966 and further clients of the studio included the British Airports Authority and British Rail. Margaret taught part-time at the Royal College of Art from 1966 to 2001 and also headed the graphic design department for four years during that time. She has an Honorary Doctorate from the RCA and is a recipient of the Misha Black medal for Distinguished Services to Design Education. This year Margaret was awarded the TDC Medal from the New York Type Directors Club.

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