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Margaret Calvert collaborates with Mickey Mouse on new road safety signs

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Date
16 May 2019
A person in a high-visibility yellow jacket holds up a triangular warning sign. The sign features black silhouettes of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse walking hand in hand.
Above

Margaret Calvert/Disney Junior

One’s a beloved design icon who changed the face of the 20th century. The other’s Mickey Mouse. Together they’ve combined forces to teach children how to cross the road properly.

Margaret Calvert, the legendary designer who was given an OBE in 2016 in recognition of her services to both road safety and typography, has been tapped up by Disney and British charity, Brake, to produce a new series of education aids that use her genuinely iconic 1950s and 60s road sign work as the basis for the new campaign.

The veteran designer has taken cues from Mickey and the Roadster Racers a smash hit amongst petrol-headed preschoolers over on the Disney Junior channel. Margaret is reported as saying: “The Mickey and the Roadster Racers inspired designs are a fun take on my original ‘children crossing’ signs, which I hope will help teach young children important lessons of the road.”

The designer goes onto describe working with Brake and Disney Junior as “an enjoyable challenge,” noting that “by using such recognisable characters I hope they help to capture the attention of children, and parents too.”

The Mickey’n’Minnie featuring signs will be released alongside new guides we’re told are being “distributed to nurseries, schools and parents” across the UK in an attempt to better educate the nation’s children about the dangers of the road, while simultaneously imploring drivers to be conscious of the need to slow down around schools and nurseries.

A collection of red and white warning signs featuring Disney characters. Triangular signs show silhouettes of Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse, while rectangular signs read “SLOW Duck Crossing” and “SLOW Mouse Crossing”.
Above

Margaret Calvert/Disney Junior

A red and white triangular warning sign shows a black silhouette of a duck. Below it, a red rectangular sign reads “SLOW Duck Crossing”.
Above

Margaret Calvert/Disney Junior

A red and white triangular warning sign shows two mice walking. Below it, a red rectangular sign reads “SLOW Mouse Crossing”. Behind the sign, a green metal fence is decorated with a row of colourful, stylised human figures.
Above

Margaret Calvert/Disney Junior

A triangular warning sign shows two black silhouettes of mice walking. A red rectangular sign below reads “SLOW Mouse Crossing”.
Above

Margaret Calvert/Disney Junior

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Josh Baines

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Josh Baines joined It's Nice That from July 2018 to July 2019 as News Editor, covering new high-profile projects, awards announcements, and everything else in between.

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