The swiftest way to pleasure; Whitsun joy wheel – Charles Sharland, 1913
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It’s a bank holiday weekend again and hopefully you’ve got some fun plans. But if you haven’t decided what you’re up to yet then why not take a look at our events calendar for some exciting ideas, including some fantastic steam runs!

For this week’s Poster of the Week we wanted to share with you one of the older posters in our Poster Art 150 exhibition - The Swiftest Way to Pleasure (1913) by Charles Sharland. He was one of the in-house designers at Waterlow and Sons, one of the main printers of Underground posters, from the 1900s to the 1920′s. Although little is known about Sharland’s family background or artistic training he designed over 122 posters for London Transport. You can view most of these posters on our online collections site.

Bank holidays were a great focus for promoting off-peak travel and in this poster Sharland is advertising the diverse leisure destinations accessible by Underground. The Underground ‘bull’s-eye’ symbol in the centre was part of the Underground’s corporate identity and it was not until 1916 that the calligrapher Edward Johnston was asked to adapt his typeface to fit in a new roundel logo; the logo we know today.

© National Fairground Archive Collections

Sharland has shown the ‘bull’s-eye’ as a ‘Joy Wheel’ – a popular fairground contraption from 1910 until the late 1920’s consisting of a slightly conical polished disc that spun riders around and around until they fell off. The Joy Wheel rides were more commonly found at seaside resorts and accounts suggest that they were just as much fun for the spectators as they were for the participants! In the poster, Sharland’s characters are falling towards the different out-of-town destinations served by the Underground.

As part of the exhibition, the Siemens Poster Vote seeks to find out what your favourite poster is…

Filed under: Exhibitions, Posters written by Anna Renton
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Brightest London and home by Underground, Horace Taylor, 1924
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This weekend is Museums at Night and it’s a great opportunity to get out and enjoy your favourite museums after hours. Tonight at London Transport Museum we’re hosting a ‘Brightest London’ Friday Late filled with art, animations, dressing up, drinks, tours, readings and a fantastic quiz!

To celebrate our Brightest London night, we’ve chosen another gem from our Poster Art 150 exhibition – Brightest London and home by Underground (1924) by Horace Taylor. This poster was issued in November 1924 in the run up to Christmas, hence the bright lights, party hats and streamers!

The festive atmosphere shows London’s most stylish residents enjoying a modern and sophisticated night out; the Champagne bottles and coupe glasses on the tables, along with the men’s ‘white’ tie’ dress (the most formal evening dress code in Western fashion), subtle indicators that this is a very special occasion! Such associations between luxury, affluence and Underground travel helped to reinforce the idea that the smart set always used the Tube. Indeed, Underground posters often depicted a fashionable crowd as this made Underground travel seem stylish and aspirational – an important part of encouraging passengers to make use of off-peak services.

Earlier this year we also blogged about the counterpart to this poster, ‘Brightest London is best reached by Underground’. This poster showed sophisticated Londoners heading down the Tube escalators on their way to a night out on the town. Can you spot any of the same passengers from that escalator poster in this party poster?

During our Friday Late tonight you’ll have the opportunity to dress up in bright clothes and hats for photo-shoots based on this poster! We’re looking forward to seeing you at Brightest London!

As part of the exhibition, the Siemens Poster Vote seeks to find out what your favourite poster is.

Filed under: Exhibitions, Posters written by Anna Renton
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Cup final Wembley Saturday April 24th, Eric George Fraser, 1928
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The FA Cup Final this weekend is one of the country’s great sporting events; watched by football fans all over the world. The competition began in 1871, at a time when the rules of the game were still evolving, the centre circle and half way line weren’t marked and there were no free kicks or penalties. The first final was held at the Oval in Kennington and saw Wanderers play the Royal Engineers in front of a crowd of just 2000 fans, with Wanderers scoring the winning goal. This weekend it’s underdogs Wigan Athletic taking on the might of Manchester City at Wembley stadium, in front of a crowd of 90,000!

This fantastic poster was created by the artist Eric Fraser to promote the 1928 FA Cup Final. It was posted inside underground trains, in the panels above the windows and the glass partitions by the doors. Designed to increase passenger numbers and boost leisure travel, panel posters were printed in large numbers and only displayed for a few weeks ahead of an event. Fraser has skilfully included an amazing amount of information in this remarkably simple design. Set behind the goal, the low viewpoint allows for a panoramic view of the stadium. As the players bear down on the goalkeeper and the ball hurtles towards the back of the net, Fraser’s illustration captures the suspense and excitement of a cup final match. Even the iconic twin towers of Wembley’s original stadium are visible on either side of the goal posts.

Wembley stadium was built in1923 for the British Empire Exhibition, which took place the following year and as the popularity of spectator sports increased, people flocked there to see there favourite teams and activities.  Eric Fraser designed murals for the British Empire Exhibition and established a successful career as one of the country’s leading illustrative artists. He created many illustrations for the Radio Times, inspired by the sounds and ideas expressed over the airwaves, during a golden age for Radio. He also designed posters for Shell, the General Post Office and the Ministry of information and was well know for inventing a character called Mr Therm for the Gas, Light and Coke Company in 1932.

As part of the exhibition, the Siemens Poster Vote seeks to find out what your favourite poster is.

Filed under: Exhibitions, Posters written by Caroline MacVay
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Gardening by Underground, Stanislaus S Longley, 1933
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The May Bank Holiday has arrived!  What a great opportunity for some rest and relaxation, and also to enjoy the outdoors, maybe in the garden or local park.

This week’s poster is ‘Gardening by Underground’ by Stanislaus Longley from 1933. Posters like this were used to entice city-dwellers to move to the relative peace and tranquillity of the suburbs.

Longley’s poster shows us how suburban living can be the best of both worlds. With one foot in the bustling, hectic city and another in his beautiful private garden, the man in the poster is living the suburban dream.

London’s suburbs grew around the ever-expanding Underground network. Golders Green became the first Tube suburb when development began in 1907 and was based around the rural terminus of the Hampstead Tube. Extensions to the Piccadilly line in 1932 and 1933 prompted the further expansion of suburbia.

The architect Charles Holden’s futuristic-looking stations sprung up in north and west London to carry passengers into town on the sleek and modern Underground, surrounded by brand new, but traditionally styled, suburban housing. The new suburbs offered spacious homes and private gardens, and proximity to the countryside was also a huge draw.

Arnos Grove Underground station, designed by Charles Holden (1933)

London’s countryside looks great at this time of year. If you need any inspiration about where to go this bank holiday, why not come and have a look at some of the posters in our exhibition, Poster Art 150? We’re open all weekend! Wherever you decide to spend it, have a great time!

As part of the exhibition, the Siemens Poster Vote seeks to find out what your favourite poster is.

Filed under: Exhibitions, Posters written by Anna Renton
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For the Zoo, book to Regent’s Park or Camden Town, Charles Paine, 1921
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Along with our Poster Art 150 exhibition, and as part of the Underground’s 150^th anniversary, we’re displaying and interpreting our poster collection in all kinds of interesting ways.

This morning we installed our latest Poster Parade display, which this time brings Underground posters to life. Second Year MA Character Animation students from Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design worked in groups to draw inspiration from the Museum’s collection of Underground posters. They’ve created a series of amazing animations that celebrate the theme of ‘London characters’.  From contemporary Tube etiquette to travelling penguins, exploring the humorous through to the poetic, the films are as diverse as the posters on show.

One of the fantastic posters to have inspired students is Charles Paine’s ‘For the Zoo’, commissioned by the Underground Electric Railway Company in 1921. It was included in the first major exhibition of Underground posters, held at Burlington House, Piccadilly in 1928, which celebrated the first 20 years of Underground graphic design. This bold design, typical of Charles Paine’s style, was extremely well-received when first displayed and reproductions continue to be popular. The poster’s theme, London Zoo, features on more Underground posters than any other subject – at least two per year were produced throughout the 1920s.

Do drop in and check out the wonderful animations and Underground posters featured in the ‘London characters’ Poster Parade. Students’ animations will also be shown on the big screen in the Museum’s theatre during our upcoming Friday Late ‘Brightest London’ on 17^th May. There’ll be a huge range of activities happening on the night, including an introductory talk by Central Saint Martins staff.

As part of the exhibition, the Siemens Poster Vote seeks to find out what your favourite poster is.

Filed under: Exhibitions, Posters written by Michelle Brown
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Brighter London for theatreland, Harold Sandys Williamson, 1924
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The West End is the home of London’s entertainment scene, filled with theatres, cinemas, clubs and restaurants. A number of posters were created London Underground to encourage people to visit the area at the weekend and after work to help cut congestion during the rush hour. London Transport Museum is based in Covent Garden in the heart of London’s West End, specifically in the area known as Theatreland which is indicated on street signs by featuring a comedy tragedy mask – a classic representation of stage and theatre. This week’s poster of the week is Brighter London for Theatreland by Harold Sandys Williamson in 1924 designed to bring the crowds in to London’s theatres, aided by the Tube of course.

Many of Williamson’s designs feature vibrant and intense colours used to draw the viewer’s attention. The West End has been particularly popular since the early 19^th century when it was favoured by the rich because it was located upwind of smoke drifting from the City. This part of the city remains so exciting that it is officially the most expensive place in the world to rent commercial property.

Along with Broadway in New York, the West End is well known for presenting some of the highest quality theatre productions in the world, with many famous film actors treading the boards in recent years to enhance their thespian image!

The first theatre in London was constructed in 1576 and was known to have been used by William Shakespeare’s company. The first theatre to be built in the West End however opened in 1663 on the site of what is now known as the Theatre Royal on Drury Lane, designed by highly celebrated architect Christopher Wren.

The longest running show in the world to date is The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie which has been running since 1952. The second longest runner is the musical Les Misérables which has been showing since 1985.

There are various awards for West End theatre performers but the most coveted is the Laurence Olivier Award which is presented annually by the Society of London Theatre.

Williamson designed posters for the London Underground from 1922-1939. Not all his work was as bright and uplifting as Brighter London for Theatreland. His early works featured scenes based on his experiences in the trenches during World War I where he sustained injury. These works have been displayed at the Royal Academy of Art where he was trained. While producing his more commercial works he became Headmaster of the Chelsea School of Art, employing Henry Moore to run his new sculpture department.

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As part of the exhibition, the Siemens Poster Vote seeks to find out what your favourite poster is.

Filed under: Exhibitions, Posters written by Holly Peel
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The London Transport Collection, Tom Eckersley, 1975
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The bold simplicity and timeless quality of this week’s poster perfectly describes the appeal of steam locomotion. Created in 1975 by the highly acclaimed graphic artist Tom Eckersley, this poster promoted the London Transport collection of historic vehicles, posters, signs and tickets before it was moved to its current location at Covent Garden. The collage on which the design was based is now part of the Museum’s collection of over 700 original poster artworks.

Eckersley frequently used a limited range of strong colours to create designs that were simple to read, appealing directly and effectively to a wide audience. Eckersley developed this technique over a long and successful career as a practitioner and teacher. He graduated from Salford School of Art in 1934 and received his first commission from London Transport in 1935. During WWII he worked as a cartographer for the RAF and also created posters for the Ministry of Information. He was awarded an OBE in 1949 for services to British poster design and went on to create many wonderful posters, not only for London Transport but other significant patrons such as Shell and the BBC.

His skill in translating complex ideas and images into bold graphic elements is manifest in much of his early work as well as his deceptively simple collage-based designs of the seventies and eighties. He died just two years after creating his last poster for London Transport in 1995, having worked with the organisation for nearly 60 years.

What are you doing this weekend?

If this poster has inspired you to see steam in action, then why not join us for our annual spring Open Weekend at the Museum Depot in Acton. The weather forecast for Saturday and Sunday is looking good and the recently renovated Metropolitan Steam locomotive No.1 will be on show and in steam to celebrate the 150^th anniversary of London Underground.

Model displays will feature miniatures of the Met No.1, and a Lego representation of Baker Street in 1863. With steam rides on the Acton Miniature Railway, film screenings, hands on workshops, talks, and book signings as well there’s plenty going on down the depot. Come and join the fun!

As part of the exhibition, the Siemens Poster Vote seeks to find out what your favourite poster is.

Filed under: Exhibitions, Posters written by Caroline MacVay
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Winter Sales, E. McKnight Kauffer, 1921
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While the hustle and bustle of the New Year sales may now seem like a distant memory, winter appears reluctant to say goodbye. Perhaps the best remedy for such inclement weather (beyond just staying indoors!) is to go out and indulge in some retail therapy. Not such a new solution, as suggested by this 1921 poster by E. McKnight Kauffer.

Guest Blog by Brian Webb, designer and Visiting Professor at the University of the Arts, London

It would be easy to choose almost any of over 100 posters Edward McKnight Kauffer designed for London Transport, but at the top of the list has to be his 1921 ‘Winter Sales are best reached by Underground’.

Edward Kauffer was born in Montana in 1890 and after an unsettled childhood he left home to become a scene painter in a travelling theatre. By 1910 he was in San Francisco, taking art classes by night and working in a bookshop by day. One of the bookshop’s customers, Professor Joseph McKnight, offered to pay for Kauffer to study art in Europe – this was the time of benefactors who expected nothing in exchange. In recognition of his generosity Kauffer added McKnight’s name to that of his own.

En route for Europe, McKnight Kauffer stopped off in Chicago and saw the 1913 Armory show that had caused a sensation in New York, Americans used to realism were confronted with Cubism, Fauvism and Futurism. Arriving in Europe Kauffer visited Munich, seeing posters by Ludwig Hohlwein, and still with the intention of being a fine artist attended classes in Paris. At the outbreak of the First World War, heading back to New York, he stopped off in London and became involved with current art groups – the Vorticists and Omega workshops.

In 1915 Frank Pick commissioned Kauffer’s first London Transport poster. Kauffer quickly gave up the idea of fine art in favour of poster design. Winter Sales, 1921, is McKnight Kauffer’s ‘graduation piece’. It illustrates all he had learned in his travels. The composition has echoes of Duchamp’s ‘Nude descending a staircase’ that he had seen in Chicago. The monochrome figures and umbrellas lean into the diagonal shafts of rain and snow. The only colour, at the very top right of the image, is the welcoming entrance to the Underground, emphasised by the repeat of red in the line of lettering below.

Brian Webb
@webbandwebb
www.webbandwebb.co.uk

As part of the exhibition, the Siemens Poster Vote seeks to find out what your favourite poster is.

Filed under: Exhibitions, Posters written by Guest Blogger
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Boat Race, Charles Paine, 1921
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The annual Oxford versus Cambridge University Boat Race traditionally marked the start of the London sporting season and was often promoted with a special Underground poster. In his wonderful poster, Charles Paine shows only the tips of the boats and the splashes left by the oars to convey the excitement of the competition. In 1921 Cambridge were the winners by just one length.

Paine’s artistic training began with an apprenticeship in stained glass. Both poster design and stained glass rely on striking colours and strong, simple images. By limiting his palette to just four colours, Paine creates an instantly striking and recognisable image which could have been economically reproduced.

London is a great place to catch some sporting action, and we’ve got plenty of sport posters in our exhibition, Poster Art 150, including another boat race poster from 1928 by Percy Drake Brookshaw. Later in the year we’ll be sharing some of our favourite rugby, football and tennis posters with you in this blog too!

Saturday March 31st, Percy Drake Brookshaw, 1928

This Sunday the 159^th Boat Race will set off from Putney, with Oxford and Cambridge University rowing teams battling it out to the finish in Mortlake. The Cambridge team are currently in the lead, with 81 wins, whilst Oxford has 76. Why not head down to the river this Sunday and cheer on your favourite team!

As part of the exhibition, the Siemens Poster Vote seeks to find out what your favourite poster is.

Filed under: Exhibitions, Posters written by Anna Renton
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A guest blog by Gabriel Solomons, Senior Lecturer in Graphic Design at the University of the West of England

Over the past four years the University of the West of England (UWE) has been running a poster project for level 2 BA graphic design students.

Each year UWE aims to tie the project in with a major national or international event (last year the students produced posters for the 2012 Olympics). This year’s commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the world’s first underground railway fitted perfectly, as poster art has always been such an integral part of the London Underground ‘experience’.

Students were therefore asked to produce an A3 screenprinted, two-colour poster promoting the exhibition ‘Poster Art 150: London Underground’s Greatest Designs’ currently on show at London Transport Museum. We were so pleased with the results, that we got in touch with the Museum and they asked us to write this blog entry to explain more about the project.

The design concept for this project is rooted in the traditions of the International Typographic Style, a design style developed in Switzerland in the 1950s. This ‘Swiss Style’ emphasizes clean, dynamic composition, with simple colour schemes and information hierarchy using sans serif typefaces, letterforms and shapes rooted in architectural structure.

Students studied the work of celebrated Swiss Style masters such as Armin Hofman, Joseph Muller-Brockmann and Max Bill. They were also encouraged to research the poster collection on the Museum website, which helped them to contextualize their own work and became an invaluable source of inspiration.

After research, students were supplied with a simple grid format to work with. They also had a given set of type sizes and the Johnston typeface, designed by Edward Johnston in 1916 and well known for its use by Transport for London. Artwork for the poster had to be created in a one-day workshop and prepped for screenprinting the following week. This emphasized the speed with which transport posters often had to be created during the ‘Golden Age’ of poster design in the 1920s and 30s.

‘The work created by our students saw a wide range and variety of approaches. Some students chose to use familiar and recognizable images of trains, escalators and tunnel architecture. Others have taken inspiration from the sound, colour and atmosphere of the Tube’s subterranean environment.

We’ve been really pleased with the students’ work, and it shows they thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of creating work for such an institution as London Transport Museum, and for a hugely significant anniversary. You can see the posters online through the typenowhere site.

Filed under: Collections, Exhibitions, Posters written by Steve Gardam
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