Why it takes more than one idea to get your boat afloat

I’d like to respond to Simon Taylor’s comment on my branding for Manchester Water Taxis (www.designweek.co.uk, 6 July), and his suggestions that this might be a first-thing-you-thought-of solution, and also that referencing New York cabs is not relevant to travelling by boat in Manchester.

He’s probably right that there’s not too much correlation between New York cabs and boats in Manchester.

However, we felt that as the brand developed, we could do more effective design using simple black and yellow.

At present, this is simply a standalone logo and not an identity. I can assure Simon, however, that this wasn’t the first thing we thought of, and, in fact, many other suggestions were dismissed.
David Sedgwick, via www.designweek.co.uk