I arrived in London for the first time back in 1992. I was overwhelmed; the opportunity, the people and the colour (which is hard to imagine from a city that seems so grey on a day like today).
This city, that has a style that is so eclectic yet so uniform, has a colour that can be blinding. The irony is that you can’t survive in London without a lot of black in your wardrobe, yet I remember that first day in London as being one of the most colourful of my life.
London taught me the power of colour in communication and connecting with different people from all over the world. It was the flash of a red bus, the glimpse of the London Transport roundel and the rainbow of colours that make up our tube map that mesmerized me.
I had studied marketing at University in Australia but I’d never been exposed to the power of design like I was seeing on that cold day back in February 1992.
I’d studied the famous branding identity case studies but I hadn’t seen a brand identity like London Transport – living breathing and splashing colour across a city like it was it’s own personal canvas. It was then I knew I had to learn more about how design, art and marketing can come together to connect people.
So now I’m surrounded by great designers at Dunk Design and I see the power of colour at work almost every day. I like to think the Tube inspired me back then, and I feel just as inspired today.
In the words of Saul Bass, which Duncan lives his life by, “Interesting things happen when the creative impulse is cultivated with curiosity, freedom and intensity”.
Sounds like TfL and London to me.
