Colin Banks (16 January 1932 – 9 March 2002) was a British designer who co-founded Banks & Miles, designers and typographers, in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1958 with John Miles. Major clients of the partnership included the Consumers' Association, the

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

British Telecom BT Group plc (trade name, trading as BT and formerly British Telecom) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is th ...

and London Transport, for whom they redesigned

Edward Johnston Edward Johnston, CBE (11 February 1872 – 26 November 1944) was a British craftsman who is regarded, with Rudolf Koch, as the father of modern calligraphy, in the particular form of the broad-edged pen as a writing tool. He is most famo ...

's famous "Underground Sans" typeface, as New Johnston.

Early life

Banks was born in

Ruislip Ruislip ( ) is an area in the London Borough of Hillingdon in West London, and in the historic county of Middlesex. Ruislip lies west-north-west of Charing Cross, London. The manor of Ruislip appears in the Domesday Book, and some of the ear ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and grew up in

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...

. He went to Rochester and Maidstone schools of art (both became

Kent Institute of Art & Design The Kent Institute of Art & Design (KIAD, often ) was an art school based across three campuses in the county of Kent, in the United Kingdom. It was formed by the amalgamation of three independent colleges: Canterbury College of Art, Maidstone Co ...

then eventually the

University for the Creative Arts The University for the Creative Arts is a specialist art and design university in the south of England. It was formed in 2005 as University College for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone and Rochester when the Kent Inst ...

), and met John Miles at Maidstone.

Career

With John Miles, he was the Production Editor of ''

Which? ''Which?'' is a United Kingdom brand name that promotes informed consumer choice in the purchase of goods and services by testing products, highlighting inferior products or services, raising awareness of consumer rights and offering independen ...

'', and associated magazines, from 1964 to 1993.

Typography

Banks was an influential designer, and his Telecom (T) identity, created for

British Telecommunications BT Group plc (trading as BT and formerly British Telecom) is a British multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is the largest provider of fixed-line, bro ...

when it was instituted in 1981, spawned many imitators. Its replacement by

Wolff Olins Wolff Olins is a British advertising agency and corporate identity consultancy. It was started in 1965 and has offices in London, New York City and San Francisco. It now employs some 150 designers, strategists, technologists, programme managers ...

' BT "piper" was received with much derision in 1991. Banks received a prestigious RSA/BBC Design Award in 1990, for the paper-saving redesign of the UK's Phonebook. Miles and Banks designed the UK Post Office's distinctive "double-line" alphabet in 1972 and New Johnston, a revival of

's "Underground Sans", for London Transport. They also designed the logo of

Lancaster University Lancaster University (legally The University of Lancaster) is a public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several pla ...

. Banks was President of the

International Society of Typographic Designers The International Society of Typographic Designers (ISTD) is a professional body run by and for typographers, graphic designers, and educators. The society has an international membership and its aims are to establish and maintain standards of typo ...

(ISTD) from 1988 to 1993 and 2000 to 2002.

Publications

His approach is described by David Jury in the book ''About Face'': "For Banks, it was important to respect the spirit of Johnston rather than adhere mechanically to the construction rules which would have made any further development of the design impossible." Banks would later design a limited-edition book for the organisation as a tribute to

Personal life

He was married since 1961 to zoologist Dr Caroline Grigson (daughter of the poet

Geoffrey Grigson Geoffrey Edward Harvey Grigson (2 March 1905 – 25 November 1985) was a British poet, writer, editor, critic, exhibition curator, anthologist and naturalist. In the 1930s he was editor of the influential magazine ''New Verse'', and went on to p ...

and his first wife). They had a daughter, Frances, who was killed in a road accident in 1978, and a son, Joe. Banks died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

Blackheath Blackheath may refer to: Places England *Blackheath, London, England ** Blackheath railway station **Hundred of Blackheath, Kent, an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent, England *Blackheath, Surrey, England ** Hundred of Blackh ...

, London, aged 70.James Alexander
Colin Banks obituary
''The Guardian'', 4 April 2002.

Notes

References

* Banks's article

for Linotype, co-written with John Miles: * John Miles
''Design for Desktop Publishing''
Chronicle Books, 1987. . * Monty Shaw, ''Banks and Miles: Thirty Years of Design Evolution''. London: Lund Humphries (February 1993), * David Jury, ''About Face, Reviving the Rules of Typography''. Switzerland: Rotovision, Mies (pp. 60–61),

External links

* James Alexander

''The Guardian'', 4 April 2002. * Jeremy Myerson
"Colin Banks"
''The Independent'', 16 March 2002.

MyFonts

* London Transport Museum, archive artworks for New Johnston Typeface desig

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Banks, Colin 1932 births 2002 deaths People from Margate English typographers and type designers Royal Mail people English graphic designers Alumni of the University for the Creative Arts