Colin Banks

Colin Banks (16 January 1932 in Ruislip - 9 March 2002 in Blackheath) co-founder of Banks & Miles, designers and typographers, founded in London in 1958 with partner John Miles. Major clients included the Consumers Association, the Post Office, British Telecom and London Transport, for whom they redesigned Edward Johnston's famous Underground Sans (as New Johnston).

Early life

He grew up in Margate. He went to Rochester and Maidstone schools of art (both became Kent Institute of Art & Design then eventually University for the Creative Arts), where he met John Miles at Maidstone.

Career

With John Miles, he was the Production Editor of Which?, and associated magazines, from 1964-93.

Typography

An influential designer, his Telecom (T) identity, created for British Telecommunications when it was instituted in 1981, spawned many imitators. Its replacement by Wolff Olins' BT 'piper' was received with much derision in 1991. He received a prestigious RSA/BBC Design Award in 1990, for the paper-saving redesign of the UK's Phonebook. Banks designed the UK Post Office's distinctive 'double-line' alphabet in 1972. They also designed the logo of Lancaster University.

He was President of the International Society of Typographic Designers (ISTD) from 1988-3 and 2000-2.

Publications

David Jury in his book 'About Face' describes the approach... "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 Johnston.

Personal life

He was married to Caroline Grigson, daughter of the poet Geoffrey Grigson and his first wife. His daughter was killed in a road accident in 1978 and they had a son.

References

• Bank's article "Pleasures of design" for Linotype co-written with John Miles:
• Design for Desktop Publishing, John Miles
• Banks and Miles: Thirty Years of Design Evolution, Monty Shaw, Publisher: Lund Humphries Pub Ltd (February 1993), ISBN 0-85331-572-8
• Jury, David; About Face, Reviving the rules of typography. Rotovision, Mies, (p60-61) Switzerland, ISBN 2-88046-677-6

External links

• The Guardian's obituary by James Alexander
• The Independent's obituary by Jeremy Myerson
• TDC Archive
• MyFonts
• John Miles Biography

Persondata
Name	Banks, Colin
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	16 January 1932
Place of birth
Date of death	9 March 2002
Place of death