Our London: Wonderful Design On Our Tube
We love a good design here at Stephen Einhorn, and as we are constantly whinging on about the lack of good design it was refreshing to see some such in action! I am embarrassed to say I might have seen this before, fleetingly, but I do not frequent the Central line and when I do getting a look at the fabric on the seats is not usually an option. Normally I’m trying to not get up too close and personal with someone who is literally an inch away from my nose and sometimes, yes sometimes a stranger to soap and water… but I digress. Weird how you can be so close to someone and not ever look them in the eye…
Anyway I was on the Central line and for once it was quiet and I was able to sit down. I found myself gazing at the fabric on the seat opposite me. It’s a really great design and carries on the tradition of fantastic graphic design commissioned by London Transport.
The fabric was designed by Wallace Sewell and depicts iconic structures using circles triangles and squares. The fabric is called Barman after Christian Barman who commissioned the first moquettes for the tube in 1939. (Moquette= thick piled fabric or carpet).
You can see from my marvellous picture that this fabric has already had a lot of wear hopefully… from a pregnant women, an old person or a women carrying a baby, all who would need that particular seat on a crowded train and still looks amazing.
