Art Deco: the golden age of poster design at The London Transport Museum

A colourful new exhibition opens today at The London Transport Museum in Covent Garden displaying over 100 posters from the 1920s and 1930s interspersed with physical items, products and other printed ephemera.

The exhibition starts with a short overview about 'Art Deco' and a selection of what's to come. It shows how simple lines and clear sans serif typefaces were implemented to advertise leisure, travel and industry... 

I particularly like that many of the posters are signed by the artist and also bear the name of the company that printed them. 

We see how commercial artists of the 1920s and 30s created engaging visuals that would tempt people to use the London Transport, whether to access West End shops or theatres, dance venues, London Zoo or the parks. It's wonderful to see the range of different artistic styles. Some posters are cubist, others illustrative many are geometrical as per the Season Tickets 'lightning bolt' above.

A couple of posters make a point of how the tube is better than the unmentioned buses and trams because you won't get wet when it rains and it's cooler in the summer. This simple design style was also implemented on UK travel guides and maps.

The poster titled 'Hearing the riches of London' used as the main promo image for this exhibition is a strange choice. It features a coquettish lady wearing hair grips in the style of the London Underground roundel. 

This poster is interesting because it's the original illustration rather than a printed poster, as is evident by the scamped-in logo on the hair grips as 'UxxxD' indicating where the printer should place a pre-made printed logo. It's also likely that the lines indicated either side of the outlined logo at the bottom indicate where explanatory text can be inserted, and I suspect that another word would have later been added on the arched section where dancers and party people are depicted in two-tone red. Perhaps she's going to listen and dance to some syncopated jazz at the Hammersmith Palais?  Hence the use of the word 'Hearing' in the poster.

Another poster that intrigues me is the one shown above right, intended to show how convenient it is to get from the Underground to the theatre although the message is not immediately evident. It looks rather creepy, but I love it – a top hatted man us rising from below to meet a green-coated lady to see a stage production, although it appears to indicate that lift takes you directly from station platform to the stalls.

As well as the posters here are some good exhibits on show. Here just a few of them that particularly relate to dressing up, going out and dancing: 

Other posters show how easy it was to make rail connections for days out further afield such as Southend, the South Coast and Henley. Incidentally, in most cases, the captions accompanying most of the posters simply describe what we are looking at. I'd have like to have learned more about the artists who designed them. 

The lower level is accessed via a spiral staircase. At the bottom there's a big blank burgundy wall but no info to explain this next section, or any indication which way to turn. Next the the stairs is the most confusing poster in the whole exhibition which, after a while, I managed to decipher was also about getting speedily to the theatre (what's it doing down here?). 

I noticed that there was an even lower level, so I continued down the spiral stairs to find that it merely leads to a door that takes you back to the main museum. Hmm. Signage needed. 

So I re-climbed the stairs and discovered the introductory information panel for this floor is installed a few metres to the left, which you might not notice if you happen to turn right and go clockwise round this floor as there is also no directional.  

But hey, it turns out that the lower level is very interesting as it shows a varied collection of other examples of how the 'Art Deco'* style has been implemented elsewhere, including the Clarks shoes leaflet shown above, 1960's designs and posters featuring 1980's RetroDeco/PoMo architecture. 

The ads for motoring events at Olympia are graphically pleasing and include one that, again, is an original illustration, a preliminary design achieved probably in gouache that also includes an indicated UxxxD logo. The artist's pencil marks are clearly visible across the whole piece, as is his hand-written mark at bottom left, "lettering only roughed in" – I love this – it takes me back to my first jobs working at design and advertising studios when artworks of this kind were commonplace in a world of lick and stick, Rotring pens and Cow Gum.

This lower floor leads to the exit doors and raises another question about the spiral staircase. It occurs to me that wheelchair users or people with mobility issues might have a problem moving between floors within the exhibition. I'm assuming this second level can be accessed by exiting exhibition at the main door and using the lift/escalator to access the the lower floor, and re-entering via this door (which I assume will be staffed, as surely they want people to see the exhibition in the order it has been designed) but it would mean that they would then see the most recent deco-inspired exhibits first:

Which brings me onto my final observation. It concerns the image shown above right of a video that explains the whole show and the beginnings of this design style, yet it's installed on the lower floor next to a panel headed 'Legacy' which starts off by telling us that Art Deco* died (eh?).

Why oh why oh why is this movie not near the main entrance explaining what we are about to see? Instead, on entering the space, looking to the left and right (repeating the pair of images from above)...

... we see lots of things crammed in, more jumbled than any other area of the whole exhibition, as if they kept adding things as afterthoughts. 

But where could they squeeze in the video screen here? As you can see, the overview/welcome text is squeezed into the corner looking like a late addition. The text lacks basic information about the 'Art Deco' era, the hows and whys, and I was surprised to find that key points, such as where the term derives from, is buried within captions under other items on the left hand side. But not everyone reads all the captions like I do!

So, in conclusion, as an 'Art Deco' fan, there are lots and lots of lovely things to see and admire, but even though I knew what I was looking at I was often confused. As a graphic designer/typographer who has worked on many print and events projects, particularly on signage and wayfinding, the key thing should always be to design for the customer/visitor who is new to the environment or subject, making the information clear, obvious and easy to understand.

Unfortunately there is no way to see this exhibition than as part of a visit to the museum. Prices here. However, your ticket lasts a year and you can visit as many times as you want to at no extra charge. 

I know lots of people who would love to see these posters but will not visit due to the price, perhaps having no interest in the rest of the museum or they've seen it all before. I really think it's about time that the LT Museum considered installing a stand-alone small exhibition/event space adjacent to the shop, similarly accessible to all without accessing the museum.

Finally – It's November and it's very cold inside the museum , after all, it's a huge shed. Basically, whatever you are wearing outside, you will need to be wearing it in the museum. 

*I prefer to use initial caps for art deco. and I usually write in quotes as per 'Art Deco' because it's a retrospective woolly term. There doesn't appear to be a set style guide