Margaret Calvert
Often considered the "mother of modern-day information design", Margaret Calvert designed many of the road signs used throughout the United Kingdom, Crown Dependencies, and British Overseas Territories. She is widely recognized for this collaboration with typographer Jock Kinneir, creating an identity for British rail, motorways, airports, and roads.
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Maquettes pour le système britannique de signalisation routière
Kinneir and Calvert's work changed the British landscape and became a role model for modern road signage worldwide. Creating a complete road signage design system was not easy and took over five years of research and development. As Margaret put it herself – "The signs were completely radical if you compare them with the signs that were in existence then, so there were bound to be people who objected to them".
By the early 60s, Kinneir and Calvert were engaged to create an identity for the British Railway system. Their resulting typeface—Rail Alphabet—was meant to provide viewers on a platform with a clear, sufficient break from the busy advertisements that surrounded station signs. This new typeface has subsequently proved to be the most successful and long-lasting element of the corporate identity.
Susane Kare
Lorsque l'on pense au design visionnaire des produits Apple, le nom de Susan Kare n'est peut-être pas le premier qui vient à l'esprit. En 1983, elle a rejoint Apple, Inc., où elle a entamé une carrière qui a transformé notre façon d'appréhender les interfaces informatiques.
Photographie de Norman Seeff
She was tasked with creating more intuitive screen graphics for the original Macintosh. She drew out a 32-by-32 grid and, square by square, or pixel by pixel if you prefer, she designed most of Macintosh's icons. From the paint bucket and trash to the smiling Mac.
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| Main pointant, conçue en 1982 pour un entretien chez Apple. | Happy Mac, conçu dans les années 1980, est l'icône de démarrage de l'ordinateur Apple Macintosh original. | L'emoji original, Cairo était une police de caractères conçue par Susan Kare en 1984 pour le premier système d'exploitation Macintosh. |
Often named "The Woman Behind Apple's First Icons", Susan Kare is considered a pixel art and the graphical user interfaces pioneer. Having spent three decades of her career at the apex of human-machine interaction. We can thank her for her concise and charming visuals, making computer interfaces more humane and intuitive. She was awarded an AIGA Medal in 2018, and her work is part of the permanent collections of MoMA and SFMOMA.
Zaha Hadid
An article by Architect, we can read – "Architecture is a man's game", the statement based on the disproportion between the number of female architecture graduates and AIA members – 36% vs 16%. This statistic is even more astounding because one of the most influential figures in design and architecture is Zaha Hadid.
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| Bridge Pavilion à Saragosse, Espagne (2005–2008) | Port Authority Building (Havenhuis) à Anvers, Belgique (2016) | Extension du musée Ordrupgaard, Copenhague, Danemark (2001–2005) |
Once named by London's The Guardian as the 'Queen of the Curve', Dame Zaha Hadid's architectural designs are so widely renowned that, at the time of her death in 2016, her firm issued a statement that Hadid was "widely regarded to be the greatest female architect in the world today".
La défunte Zaha Hadid devant la Serpentine Sackler Gallery à Londres.
(FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA/epa/Corbis)
Sa vision créative unique a transformé le paysage du design et de l'architecture, et sa persévérance a montré pourquoi nous devons valoriser la détermination à impulser le changement. Beaucoup la considèrent comme la femme qui a brisé le plafond de verre de l'architecture.
Si vous souhaitez en savoir plus sur les femmes inspirantes dans le domaine du design, consultez certaines de ces sources, où vous trouverez de nombreuses autres femmes qui ont ouvert la voie pour nous toutes.
Cet article ne serait pas complet sans mentionner quelques femmes très talentueuses au sein de notre équipe, que nous aurons le plaisir de présenter tout au long du mois de mars dans une courte série #ProudToUnravel. Restez à l'écoute. ;)
Sources :
https://www.aiga.org/aiga/content/inspiration/aiga-medalist/medalist-susan-kare/
https://thebeautyoftransport.com/2015/05/13/on-line-typeface-rail-alphabet-typeface-uk/
https://www.architectmagazine.com/aia-architect/aiafeature/feeling-the-squeeze_o
