The Underground, Penguin and Utility

Modern design came to Britain through public clients: the Underground, the Post Office and wartime rationing.

Frank Pick at the London Underground commissioned designers for everything: Edward Johnston's typeface in 1916, posters by contemporary artists, stations by Charles Holden and Harry Beck's diagrammatic map in 1933. Eric Gill's typeface Gill Sans of 1928 and Penguin's paperbacks of 1935 made good typography part of daily life.

Several Bauhaus teachers, among them Gropius and Breuer, lived for a time in London on their way to the United States. During the Second World War Utility furniture was introduced, simple standard furniture designed by a panel under Gordon Russell.