Category Archives: Uncategorized

My new issue of eye, the international review of graphic design, arrived today. Imagine my surprise and delight to discover this amazing gatefold of a Wrigley billboard design by Otis and Dorothy Shepard from 1937…the airbrush and streamlining of the train … Continue reading →

My friend and colleague, Dave Hendley, sent this over…lovely and atmospheric. I especially like the curve of the rails and the light on them. The smoke and telegraph wires add vertical drama too.

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 … Continue reading →

Here’s a photograph by Walker Evans. It shows a small railway station, out in the sticks. Evans was a photographer associated with the Farm Security Administration. During the 1930s, the FSA documented the lives of ordinary Americans working in the … Continue reading →

I recently posted a cover design, with box-car, from the US business magazine, Fortune. Here are some more railway themed covers… Fortune was a remarkable publication. It was expertly art-directed and always had great cover designs. Often, these designs were … Continue reading →

  I’ve been investigating track control systems for railways…there’s a logic of safety and performance that is compelling.  

I found a terrific US based web-resource about the New York Central Railroad. The site describes the trains, yards, people and communities of the railroad through photographs. Great stuff!

We were watching Michael Portillo’s continental railway adventure in the middle-east. There was a sequence filmed at the railway museum…including this tender, with lovely bold signage…including my initials. The letters and numbers are beautifully painted and the right scale for … Continue reading →

Here’s another great night-time colour transparency by Jack Deleno… Here’s the biographical note from Deleno’s wiki entry… Jack Deleno was born in the Ukraine. His parents moved their family to the USA in 1923. Betwen 1924 and 1932 he studied graphic arts, photography … Continue reading →