Winkreative brands new Canadian transport system UP Express

Winkreative has created an identity for a new train service which links Toronto Pearson International Airport to the city’s Union Station.

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A new design-led train service linking Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada to downtown Toronto’s Union Station has launched.

The Union Pearson Express has been branded by Winkreative and the brand will be applied to an entirely new infrastructural system.

New trains are running and new stations have opened along the route, designed with passenger experience and service in mind according to Winkreative and Metrolynx, the transport authority behind the scheme.

Winkreative has created the identity of the UP Express and commissioned a custom Gibson typeface to be used across communications – which has been created by Canadian designer Rob McDonald.

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The consultancy has also created a palette that includes sage green, “autumnal orange”, and cool grey colours that reflect the Ontario landscape and Canadian Shield.

These colours are picked up in everything from train headrests and station signage to ticket vending machines.

Inside the trains the earthy tones are applied to tactile fabrics in a bid to create a calm and warm environment.

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The train livery has been applied to stainless steel trains and has been designed to feel “fresh and timeless” according to the consultancy.

Winkreative appointed Matt Robinson, founder of menswear tailor Klaxon Howl, to design staff uniforms for UP Express, which the consultancy says reflect “the golden age of travel” and early 20th century rail travel.

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Winkreative’s work dovetails with that of many other design partners including lead architect for the entire project Hosoya Schaefer Architects and interior designer of Union Station and Pearson Airport Mach Architektur.

Signage and mapping has been developed by Winkreative in collaboration with Entro.

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Comments
  • David Thompson June 12, 2015 at 11:53 am

    Sticking a logo in a few places isn’t branding… We could do with seeing how the idea extends beyond simple ‘badging’ really.

  • Sam Barone June 13, 2015 at 1:22 am

    Design-led? Really? I live here and if this had been truly design-led, we would have an affordable subway line with multiple stops, all the way to the airport, just like other cities. Instead we got a very expensive “prestige line” with few intermediate stops aimed at the elite. If you are a budget traveler, or heaven forbid someone who actually works at Pearson, it’s the bus for you.

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