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First Trenitalia (Avanti!) WCML branding, naming and livery

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Trackman

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And looking at the logo, will they go from Holyhead to Scotland direct ?.
I was thinking that.. Sealink making a comeback?
Daft logo in my eyes, I bet it cost about £50k.
Lettering is too clinical, should be a more soothing font involving lower case letters.
I would have done something around the letter 'A' or even 'a' or a variant to show the network and make it a brand logo.
 
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TRAX

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I feel it is also a question of how severe the mistake hurts. Do any countries with only one livery charge you about €150 if you get on an InterCity taking 1h49 instead of a RegionalExpress taking 2h19 by mistake?
Try getting on a French Intercités with a TER ticket, you’ll get your answer !
 

ashkeba

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Try getting on a French Intercités with a TER ticket, you’ll get your answer !
Last time I used them, TER were blue and Intercités were orange. Have they changed one? (Have First got involved? ;) )
 

Bletchleyite

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Didn't they inherit that from the original operator in the North West, which First bought out a couple of years after it started, with them then changing to the standard white/pink/blue livery and flying-F logos?

Yes, that's correct - North Western Trains and the starred blue livery were a GWR Holdings idea.

First shoved the F-in-circle all over everything at the first opportunity, and changed the dark blue to a more purply colour.
 

ashkeba

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Yes, that's correct - North Western Trains and the starred blue livery were a GWR Holdings idea.

First shoved the F-in-circle all over everything at the first opportunity, and changed the dark blue to a more purply colour.
I did not realise that. So the only non-pink/purple First Group trains branding before the new GWR was the fag packet?
 

Bletchleyite

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I did not realise that. So the only non-pink/purple First Group trains branding before the new GWR was the fag packet?

Was Great Eastern a FG operation from day one? If so that was grey (I think), blue and green, stickered over NSE livery I think - and that was branded "GreatEastern(f)" in the manner of their 1990s bus companies.
 

jopsuk

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Was Great Eastern a FG operation from day one? If so that was grey (I think), blue and green, stickered over NSE livery I think - and that was branded "GreatEastern(f)" in the manner of their 1990s bus companies.
As far as I can find out, yes, it was the only franchise First had in the initial round (but they had a stake in Great Western Holdings, the company that ran Great Western and North Western from inception)
 

urpert

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As far as I can find out, yes, it was the only franchise First had in the initial round (but they had a stake in Great Western Holdings, the company that ran Great Western and North Western from inception)
I still have the RAIL- published “Britain’s New Railway” guide which agrees with you:

“First Bus is a backer of Great Western Holdings - operator of Great Western Trains and North Western Trains. It is also the operator of Great Eastern Railway in its own right.”
 

Bletchleyite

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As far as I can find out, yes, it was the only franchise First had in the initial round (but they had a stake in Great Western Holdings, the company that ran Great Western and North Western from inception)

Here you go with the livery - stickered over NSE I believe (the blue and grey are NSE blue and grey, anyway...) No idea what the gold coloured patch on the side of the cab is/was.

That style (the local brand in CamelCase followed by the F-in-circle) was their standard approach to bus branding at the time pre-Barbie - similarly there was (for example) GreaterManchester(f) in all over orange.

14678360862_4d10dbcfc9_b.jpg

Class 321 in FGE livery
 

Bletchleyite

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Also (to me anyway!) the app icon on a mobile phone makes me think the triangle has been jacked-up with the little white triangle under one corner!

Yeah, I think that A with the triangle is the one bit of the branding that really doesn't work. Might grow on me though.
 

transmanche

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As the triangle represents the 3 countries, England, Wales & Scotland should that not be made clearer, somehow.
I suspect that a lot of the initial marketing and advertising will make that clear. Such as this screengrab from the launch video.

Screen Shot 2019-11-28 at 23.30.09.png
Image shows the Avanti West Coast logo overlaid on a night-time satellite image of the British Isles, showing how their service links England, North Wales and Scotland.
 

BucksBones

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Yeah, I think that A with the triangle is the one bit of the branding that really doesn't work. Might grow on me though.


Yes the A looks like a stock label separate from the logo. People may not get it.

Apparently it is to signify "the communities we serve" so Holyhead, Glasgow, London. Via Birmingham and the Trent Valley. Have they forgot Blackpool, Edinburgh, Manchester and Liverpool?!

The triangle itself is just an abstract logo vaguely based on the service Avanti will be providing.
I wouldn't get too hung up on geographical accuracy...
 

PG

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I suspect that a lot of the initial marketing and advertising will make that clear. Such as this screengrab from the launch video.

View attachment 70939
Image shows the Avanti West Coast logo overlaid on a night-time satellite image of the British Isles, showing how their service links England, North Wales and Scotland.
screen-shot-2019-11-28-at-23-30-09-png.70939

alternative image caption:
Ireland's this way, escape Brexit!
 

ashkeba

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Orange ??
Yes orange. I looked it up and it seems I was on ex-Teoz coaches and the current livery is probably green and grey. In any case, not TER blue livery, so not a case of one line, one livery but two train types with a €150 penalty for getting confused like we may see with A WC and LNR.
 

ashkeba

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Apparently it is to signify "the communities we serve" so Holyhead, Glasgow, London. Via Birmingham and the Trent Valley. Have they forgot Blackpool, Edinburgh, Manchester and Liverpool?!
They want to! They've erected a warning triangle to spare others the pain. ;)
 

TRAX

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Yes orange. I looked it up and it seems I was on ex-Teoz coaches and the current livery is probably green and grey. In any case, not TER blue livery, so not a case of one line, one livery but two train types with a €150 penalty for getting confused like we may see with A WC and LNR.
The TER and Intercités liveries are both heavily based on grey. There’s no need to discuss that, have a look at my location on my profile.
 

krus_aragon

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Apparently it is to signify "the communities we serve" so Holyhead, Glasgow, London. Via Birmingham and the Trent Valley. Have they forgot Blackpool, Edinburgh, Manchester and Liverpool?!
If you think of the triangle as bounding the area served, those are all within the triangle. Holyhead is an apex because it's so far from everywhere else!
 
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