Monthly Archives: February 2014

Styling by Raymond Loewy…

Night Mail is a 1936 documentary film about an LMS mail train from London to Scotland, produced by the GPO Film Unit. A poem by W. H. Auden was written for it, used in the closing few minutes, as was … Continue reading →

Here’s an image I found on the internet. I’ve been researching Night Mail, the GPO film about the travelling post office between London and Glasgow… This is an image of an American postal wagon, circa 1920 I guess. I liked … Continue reading →

Here’s a railway transparency from the US Library of Congress collection. The library has a group of pictures taken by an employee of the US Farm Security Administration.

Here is a page form the little Railway Quiz book I mentioned earlier….

We’ve been watching a US TV series called Hell on Wheels. It’s basically a revenge and redemption tale set in the aftermath of the Civil War and against the westward push of the transcontinental railway… The visual style of the … Continue reading →

I’ve posted before about Edward McKnight Kauffer. Here’s an early design, by him, for a cotton manufacturer in manchester. These simple labels were attached to bales of printed cotton for export to the South American market. Kauffer produced a series … Continue reading →

Here is the cover of a railway guide to the Cornish Riviera, published by the Great Western Railway in 1934. The text is by SPB Mais and the cover is by Edward McKnight Kauffer. Kauffer was a genius of graphic … Continue reading →

Here’s a lovely bit of “home-made” graphic design for an Ian Allan. It’s a pocket-sized quiz book. Ideal for the time spent waiting for things to happen on the railway station platform. I love the arbitrary design choices – it’s … Continue reading →

In the years after WW2, the French railways, SNCF, began an ambitious project to electrify their mainline services. This was all part of rebuilding the railways after the war and, also, of re-establishing France’s reputation as a technical power-house. By … Continue reading →