MARGOT FONTEYN

 

During 1976, my third and final year at the London College of Printing, where I formed part of the first group of students to be awarded a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Graphic Design, we all had the opportunity to compete for a 60 Pound Prize for designing a “symbol” (now called “isotype”) for the famous Ballerina, Margot Fonteyn, who had started manufacturing ballet accessories and was in the process of applying her “brand”.

 

I remember well that most of the design work took place in my head but I finally sat down with pencil and paper during a weekend stay with some friends and sketched what finally became something similar to the image shown here: a very simple “m and f”. When I later drew the “original” with pen and ink I knew in my heart that it was a winner. And so it was. It was fantastic meeting Margot and knowing that my design would be seen by a lot of people. The 60 quid went towards travelling.

 

I was very glad to have started my design career on the right foot . . .