Here’s a poster image of BRs famous new identity from the mid1960s…it still looks pretty good now. The identities associated with the privatisation of the railway have been pretty poor – except that they provide plenty of opportunity for corporate identity designers!
This marks the end of a certain kind of design that emerged after WW2. This used materials and technology to provide solutions…but, within the context of a consumer-driven economy, it was difficult to balance design sophistication with planned obsolescence. Once the BR identity was established, there was nowhere to go with it. It became something that lay across the train tracks.
There’s a copy of the original identity manual on display in the studio just now.
Thought for the day
Maybe the world is better when it is filled with ephemeral junk…or the prison of perfection.