Pick was a pioneering figure in British design management, committed to the union of good design and industry. Best known for his work with the London Passenger Transport Board, created in 1933, Pick famously commissioned the outstanding designers of the day to produce posters, the sans serif Railway alphabet and the circle and bar symbol.
Born in Spalding, Lincolnshire, Pick was brought up in York and joined the North Eastern Railway there in 1902. He moved to Sunderland in 1903 and to Newcastle in 1904, before joining London Underground in 1906.