Oyster Badges

Linda Florence’s initial research focused on how we trace our travels and mark our journeys with objects like embroidered badges or hillwalking shields. Interested in discovering new places in London she broke away from the familiar path.

Working with computer programmer Julian Fenner, Florence designed a programme that interprets the data held on an Oyster card. This data is transformed into a woven pattern representing all of the London Underground stations visited by the user. The design changes by adding more destinations to the Oyster card when travelling in London.

Each badge was designed based on a local landmark which would be recognisable when visiting the station. The designs included parts of the Paolozzi mosaics from Tottenham Court Road and the Egyptian mummy at Holborn station. Green Park was based on a satellite image taken of the park showing the paths crisscrossing, while Brixton was based on the iconic David Bowie image from the Aladdin Sane album.

Children visiting the London Transport Museum took part in workshops to design their own tube station badge, these included everything from sunny Elephant and Castle to the more personal granny’s house.

It is hoped that the programme can be adapted for online use so anyone could upload their data and see what their personal journey pattern could look like as a woven or printed textile. While comemorating our past routines, these illustrated histories of paths taken might encourage us to break away from the familiar.

This project was commissioned for the Weaving Futures exhibition at the London Transport Museum highlighting the importance of woven textile design to the London Transport system – curated by Philippa Brock and Samuel Plant Dempsey. Each resident responded to a project brief about data and London Transport systems. The designs were interpreted live into digital woven works on a state-of-the-art TC2 digital jacquard loom.

• http://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/assets/ltm_doc...
• http://www.theweaveshed.org/1873/exhibit...