Hanover

Client: GBH, the transport authority for Hanover

Designers: BDG McColl

Sign manufacturer: not yet appointed

When the 400 000 visitors expected in Hanover for next year’s Expo arrive, their ease of movement and perceptions of the city will be initially influenced by BDG McColl, which was commissioned to come up with an identity for the Hanover region through signs, timetables and graphics for the transport authority GBH.

‘There was an urgent need for something internationally and easily understood to get people from A to B,’ says BDG McColl project leader Michael Boeck, who adds that the brand will be implemented at the airport, in and outside the stations and at the Expo site.

BDG McColl chose a dark blue background for the signs, with white typography in the FF Thesis Condensed typeface developed by Dutch typographer Luc(as) De Groot. On to this was added pictograms designed for the Berlin transport system and updated by MetaDesign, with additional Expo pictograms. These are either fixed to the station wall or to an independent sign system designed by Jasper Morrison. So far one station has been fitted out.

‘[Signs] become synonymous with the identity of the city. That’s the impact a transport system can have,’ says Boeck, referring to the London Underground logo, which is far more recognisable as London than the city’s official logo. ‘What’s important is that passengers just see it and don’t think about it.’