New rail logo for temporary advertising campaign

[pdeaves]

I'm sure there will a red, white and blue version for patriotic rail travel soon.

Like this https://creativereview.imgix.net/content/uploads/2011/03/british-rail-design.jpg (sorry, couldn't find the full version, just the 'extract for a book cover' version)

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Ughh, looks too sickly, thank goodness it isn't permanent. And yes, the lines are wrong

But if the Transport Secretary wants the railway to go green, perhaps we'll see a renaissance of standard BR green livery on locomotives and rolling stock

 

[zwk500]

Ughh, looks too sickly, thank goodness it isn't permanent.

But if the Transport Secretary wants the railway to go green, perhaps we'll see a renaissance of standard BR green livery on locomotives and rolling stock

Seeing that green with modern accessibility variations on the doors etc would be quite strange, much like the 313 in Blue & Grey that Southern did up for the coastway lines.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

I remember the launch of the original double arrow logo, and there was much derision from the media/public.
The Guardian piece today remarks that female staff thought it made them look like prisoners (who reputedly had arrow symbols on their uniforms).
My dad was on the railway at the time, and he much preferred the sausage logo saying "BRITISH RAILWAYS" on his hat than the anonymous double arrow.
It was linked to new uniforms which were regarded as "Mickey Mouse outfits" with striped sleeves and pork pie hats.
That was when BR station staff wore military-style uniforms with peaked hats - still visible on some heritage lines.
But the logo caught on over the years, and now seems vaguely "modern".
The uniforms are long gone, and not missed.

British Rail logo designer appalled by green makeover ‘mess’ | Design | The Guardian

The initial reception to the double arrow was mixed. “People said they don’t know if they’re coming or going,” Barney said.
At the time, the Guardian said the arrows on uniforms made female staff look like “prim old-fashioned convicts”.

 

[Devonian]

It isn't the new logo.

It is a specific campaign, of which there have been many with associated variants over the years.

Sorry for the bold but people seem to be ignoring this!

Indeed it is not without recent precedent: the Rail Delivery Group's 2016 Britain Runs On Rail campaign, and now Big Plan, Big Changes used/use a multicolour version of the same modifed logo.

 

[43096]

Indeed it is not without recent precedent: the Rail Delivery Group's 2016 Britain Runs On Rail campaign, and now Big Plan, Big Changes used/use a multicolour version of the same modifed logo.

Which was frankly a criminal bastardisation of the logo. The different colours only serve to remind us what a disjointed uncoordinated mess the railway is. The same applies to the different shades of green in the current campaign.

 

[Peter Sarf]

I like the concept but the top diagonal is so dark it looks bigger and longer than the other, lighter coloured diagonals.

This appears to be an advertising thing for that specific promotion.

Ah that is what is wrong.

It just looks like a separate load of lines now. Has to be a temporary change surely?

It must be.

There's no indication this is a proper new design rather than a one-off modification. Let's hope it's the latter because the multiple green shades look awful. It doesn't say 'moving with the times' at all. One shade of green would have worked much better. Great design is simple, as the longevity of the BR logo attests, having long outlived the company it was designed for.

I think this new logo only makes sense to those who are familiar with the real logo. It is a nonsense to people who do not know its roots.So it cannot be a long lasting logo.

One of the reasons the green double arrows look 'wrong' is because they are the wrong shape. It only takes a few moments on google to find the original specification for the arrows so I don't understand why they didn't follow it.
https://www.scottbrownrigg.com/company/news/british-rail-1963-1966/

Yes the weight of the lines looks greater on the real/orginal logo.

Which was frankly a criminal bastardisation of the logo. The different colours only serve to remind us what a disjointed uncoordinated mess the railway is. The same applies to the different shades of green in the current campaign.

Ah ha, a good interpretation. The different diagonals really do look all over the place.

 

[matt_world2004]

Any logo should be simple to symbolise. Like the roundel or the British rail logo. Multiple colours can make this more difficult

 

[Bletchleyite]

Which was frankly a criminal bastardisation of the logo. The different colours only serve to remind us what a disjointed uncoordinated mess the railway is. The same applies to the different shades of green in the current campaign.

Who really cares? Modified versions of logos are used for all sorts of things all the time. It's recognisable and it isn't the final brand!

 

[Ashley Hill]

Perhaps the traditional arrows in a single shade of green would have worked better and be better accepted. Clearly the designer of this logo has thought too hard.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Perhaps the traditional arrows in a single shade of green would have worked better and be better accepted. Clearly the designer of this logo has thought too hard.

Perhaps nobody cares other than a bunch of enthusiasts?

I'd be more bothered about the rank hypocrisy of TOCs who operate 1980s and 1990s DMUs (or worse 22x), which are highly polluting, using this advertising. It is only really applicable to TOCs and FOCs which operate solely electric services (which are zero carbon* as the power is all nuclear in normal times). Cars have come a long way, and 22x are barely any better than aircraft.

Chiltern posted it and people are quite rightly making a fool of them with it.

Yes, it's not their job to electrify the route, but if you can't say anything sensible it's best to keep your gob shut, as it were.

* Ignoring e.g. vans and stuff; just moving the trains.

 

[Western Sunset]

Maybe if they finished the Great Western electrification and the northern end of the Midland Mainline... And stopped sending so many diesel Voyagers under the wires on long runs.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Maybe if they finished the Great Western electrification and the northern end of the Midland Mainline... And stopped sending so many diesel Voyagers under the wires on long runs.

And not to mention Ashford-Hastings and the Uckfield branch...

 

[Gareth]

It's much ado about nothing. It's clearly part of a cheesy "green" advertising campaign.

I'm sure there will a red, white and blue version for patriotic rail travel soon.

I doubt it, somehow; although the meltdown on here would be beautiful - like the Sydney New Year's fireworks display.

 

[GrimsbyPacer]

The logo should be kept red and white, that's the current and and historical situation for some time, and it's the national colours of England, Scotland and Wales will no doubt get blue and green varients in the future as their politicians get more power over their lines while those in England will lack equal power.

This green version could be done better by having a dark green background with either light green, white, or red arrows.

 

[alistairlees]

I quite like it. "Railways are green" is going to be a hugely important direction over the coming years. Perhaps all trains and corporate branding could be green, to reinforce this. It would be a huge shift. And not the red / white / blue that people are expecting from GBR. This could be hugely impactful in marketing and therefore for revenue. And that's what matters here.

 

[backontrack]

I quite like it. "Railways are green" is going to be a hugely important direction over the coming years. Perhaps all trains and corporate branding could be green, to reinforce this. It would be a huge shift. And not the red / white / blue that people are expecting from GBR. This could be hugely impactful in marketing and therefore for revenue. And that's what matters here.

Sincerely seconded.

 

[Western Sunset]

Trouble is, the green logo lacks the subtle nuances of the original, regarding line width and proportions.

 

[MattRat]

Let's hope the Government move beyond platitudes and unveil major investment in electrification shortly!

Well, that would probably be signified with an electric blue colour, or at least I hope so since I also love BR blue.

 

[yorkie]

I have no issue with this as a temporary promotion but I completely agree with the original designer that the logo should not change.

I've been in the fortunate position of having designed a logo used by a company and it was really nice to see my own creation used and after a period of time it was replaced* with a different logo and I was sad to see my creation go. But I understood the reasons why, and this was related to the design brief for the type of logo changing, and to be fair I am not a professional logo designer by trade. But the point is: I understand what it's like to have a logo that you created replaced with something else, so I can emphasise with Gerry Barney. But on a practical point of view, I think what he says is technically correct too.

(* though there is one location the old logo is still used to this day, and there are times when someone sees that logo and I am proud to say 'I created that!' I won't divulge the detail for confidentiality reasons)

 

[Davester50]

The red to green seems to be en vogue on the railways.
I've seen it in Finland and Germany.

No problem with the green, but the logo is out of proportion, and the blocks just make it look like a Minecraft version.

5/10 Must try harder.

 

[Doomotron]

The BR logo is one that really doesn't need updating, but this new one just doesn't look right. Maybe they could try a different approach and genuinely modernise the logo, perhaps to something like the brilliant new logos for Microsoft's services, which have a very modern pseudo-3D/gradient effect.

 

[McRhu]

It doesn't work because it breaks the logo up into individual lines rather than the unified whole it was intended to be. Not only that but the greens are too disparate with no apparent thought as to placement of warms and cools.

 

[py_megapixel]

The BR logo is one that really doesn't need updating, but this new one just doesn't look right.

It's not a new logo for the railway. It's an emblem being used in one specific advertising campaign where the green colour is especially relevant.
The first line of the article quite clearly says it is "temporary".

 

[Aictos]

Should be just one type of green, it looks like something a child did when they couldn't decide what shade of green to use

 

[Wolfie]

#oldpersondoesnotlikechange is the headline. Yes this person was the designer bit it was decades ago; well done that person. But rail needs to move with the times and if it hints at its green credentials subliminally with green shades and it attracts a few extra passengers then it's a win. Looks quite fresh and modern.

I beg to differ. It turns a classic into a complete unholy mess.

 

[yorksrob]

I like the green version. The different shades work well for me.

I'm inclined to think it should be used for special occasions with the original red version remaining definitive (much as there were different versions of the original).

 

[gswindale]

It would be much better if it was a single shade of green in my view. This looks as if it is saying some trains are greener than others

 

[GrimsbyPacer]

It would be much better if it was a single shade of green in my view. This looks as if it is saying some trains are greener than others

Which begs the question, which type of train has the least impact on the environment?

 

[MattRat]

I beg to differ. It turns a classic into a complete unholy mess.

I wonder if there was a way to do both? Like maybe the red logo on a green background?