Then Gill Sans really spread its wings, because at nationalisation in 1948 it was adopted by the British Railways Board for its station signage, rolling stock lettering, timetables and publicity. ![]() Gill was a bit of an odd chap and some of his personal predilections aren’t suitable for a blog like this (so much so that there is occasional discussion of boycotting Gill Sans)¹…so let’s gloss over Gill himself and instead mention that the font’s first transport use was its adoption by the London & North Eastern Railway in 1929 as its official typeface for publicity and posters, later appearing on trains themselves. Gill Sans was invented by Eric Gill in 1926, and released commercially two years after that. Despite the difficulties of using it, transport operators are compelled to return it again and again. ![]() It is the ice maiden of transport fonts, beautiful but hard to work with. It possesses a chilly haughtiness and inspires fascination and devotion. ![]() Can there be a more seductive font in the realm of public transport than Gill Sans? While the response of most people when asked to think about a font used in transport will be to mention “the Underground signs” (Johnston, and latterly New Johnston on London’s Underground and other transport modes), it is Gill Sans which has had far wider use by transport operators.
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