Stationery to stations

Thames Trains is the last of the privatised rail franchises to unveil its new colours, marking the end of a long run of new identities for previously nationalised train operators.

The identity will be launched officially on 13 October, the first anniversary of the award of its franchise. The logo will eventually be applied to trains, tickets, timetables, stations, stationery and any other public faces of the brand.

It was created by Design House, which was appointed in February of this year to develop a new brand identity. The client had already decided to retain its existing name, and was seeking a dynamic and simple concept to express movement and a sense of the geographical coverage of the network.

The design team began with a monogram of the two Ts from the client’s initials, using them to also reflect rail tracks. Graduating ellipses were used to house the monogram, and to symbolise the areas Thames Trains’ services pass through, from the Cotswolds to London.

Colours were chosen to communicate what the client named as its core values, with blue for reliability, green for friendliness and orange for brightness and modernity. Avenir typeface was used to denote strength and authority.

Design House is in the process of developing interiors schemes for the network’s 103 stations.

In a bid to allow trains to run on time they cannot be removed from service especially for the new livery to be applied. A Thames Trains spokesman says that as the company’s fleet of trains are all less than five years old, they subsequently have good paintwork. It will, therefore, be some time before they all have the livery applied when they come in for scheduled paint jobs.

Designer: Design House

Client: Thames Trains

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