Donald Stevens TV personality and graphic designer passes away peacefully
Jonathan Stevens shares the life and adventures of Donald Stevens, who passed away peacefully in his home.
Written by Jonathan Stevens, Manchester, Greater Manchester
Donald Stevens, the graphic designer who defined the look of northern TV, passed away peacefully at home on January 30th, at the age of 93.
In 1954 he was headhunted by Sidney Bernstein to lead graphic design for Granada Television, one of the original four Independent Television Authority franchisees.
He created the iconic Granada logo featuring a stylised letter G and north pointing arrow, which was used with the tagline ‘Granada: From the North’ from the first transmission in 1956 until the mid 60’s.
Granada was proud of its distinctly northern identity and held up a mirror to the culture and people of the region.
The audience it created was huge and unprecedented, as was the quality of its award-winning drama, soap opera, sport coverage, entertainment, and investigative journalism.
Donald worked across every genre and stayed with the company through a golden age of British television, until his retirement at 73.
He also published the educational book Brush Script, which has been influential for generations of typographers.
And created and licensed several typefaces to Letraset in Europe and Monotype in the States, including the popular copperplate, ‘Aristocrat.’
