Children crossing sign refreshed and restored

Margaret Calvert’s classic pictogram is remastered by the designer herself

The newly restored image (left) and the degraded one currently in use (right)

The newly restored image (left) and the degraded one currently in use (right)

The road sign that signifies children crossing has been given a makeover by its designer, Margaret Calvert, over 50 years. The release of the remastered sign marks the finalisation of major overhaul of the UK’s traffic signage regulations.

The UK’s current system of traffic signs came into effect on 1 January 1965, following the Anderson Report and the Worboys Report of 1961-63. The graphic designers employed for both were Margaret Calvert and the late Jock Kinneir. The system produced was based upon scientific principles and 50 years on, remains the basis for UK road signs for the foreseeable future. Many of their signs feature in the revised edition of Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions (TSRGD).

Among the many signs and symbols was a pictogram of two children holding hands to warn drivers to look out for children crossing or using the road ahead. But the sign that appears on the UK’s roads has degraded over time as a result of being manually copied several times between different drawings and computer-based formats.

Margaret Calvert says: “This was one of my favourite signs, being based upon myself as a child. But I always shuddered to see recent examples on street, displaying such a travesty of my carefully crafted original. I was therefore delighted to work again on my design from 1962, and found that there were some subtle improvements I could make.”

Calvert has now had a chance to restore the sign, working with the team behind the SignPlot system. Created by Buchanan Computing, SignPlot is in regular use by the Department for Transport, including for producing parts of the new TSRGD and does not require the use of CAD software.

Simon Morgan, managing director of Buchanan Computing, says: “I had been aware for some time of this issue and suggested that the Department for Transport could use the opportunity afforded by the introduction of new traffic signs regulations and mark the 50th anniversary of our current signing system by restoring this image.  They were very supportive of this proposal, and it was a great privilege to work with Margaret on translating her latest fine tuning of the pictogram into the necessary computer formats and to facilitate liaison with DfT. 

“Our involvement has been in supplying a software package, SignPlot, which is used for the design and manufacture of a large proportion of the UK’s traffic signs. We were, therefore, able to ensure that sign manufacturers had an accurate version of the new image a week before the new regulations came into effect.”

Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions (TSRGD), the Statutory Instrument that governs traffic signing in Britain has just undergone its first full revision since 2002. It has been completely rewritten with a radically different structure. The new TSRGD was published on 22 March and came into force on 22 April 2016.

A PDF of the complete document is available by clicking here