Potential national bus branding?

[Gerald Fiennes]

Mod note - thread split off from this one:

Great British Railways: Livery, branding and appearance?

Creating a separate thread for this as it's quite a big topic, potentially. It's mentioned on the other thread that Peter Hendy wants to bring back what is to me a very dated design scheme - black on white signage, Rail Alphabet font (albeit a slightly tweaked version, but it still shouts...

www.railforums.co.uk

More fun to come on branding!

From the settlement letter sent last Friday (!) by DfT to city Mayors explaining the conditions of their funding settlements.

"City regions are encouraged to establish their own brands for transport services, promoting local identity, loyalty and accountability. To emphasise the integrated and networked nature of the service, and the role played by government funding, you must also prominently co-brand vehicles, signage, websites and all public-facing printed material with the new national rail and bus brands in a format which we will mutually agree. Media announcements and releases about improvements funded or part-funded by this money must also be co-branded, must prominently acknowledge the role played by HMG funding and offer HMG the opportunity in good time to include a comment.

So, a national bus brand beckons. (I wonder if it will apply to TfL....)

 

[Bletchleyite]

If we're going back to the 70s, there's always the "mirrored N chevron" logo thing...

 

[Goldfish62]

More fun to come on branding!

So, a national bus brand beckons. (I wonder if it will apply to TfL....)

I think you'll find a national bus brand will be news to operators and local authorities. Looks like a case of the DfT making it up as they go along as usual.

 

[SargeNpton]

I think you'll find a national bus brand will be news to operators and local authorities. Looks like a case of the DfT making it up as they go along as usual.

Perhaps just following the lead of Transport for Wales and its approach to transport branding.

 

[Goldfish62]

Perhaps just following the lead of Transport for Wales and its approach to transport branding.

Well, as I say it will be news to local authorities and operators. With Wales it's different. The Welsh government has proposed a franchised network for the whole of the country. That is not happening in England.

 

[SargeNpton]

Well, as I say it will be news to local authorities and operators. With Wales it's different. The Welsh government has proposed a franchised network for the whole of the country. That is not happening in England.

Well no, but it is coming with government funding. If Westminster's money allows it to happen then perhaps Westminster wants a bit of the credit for it happening. No different really to those EU-funded projects that were obliged to make note of that when they were completed.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Well, as I say it will be news to local authorities and operators. With Wales it's different. The Welsh government has proposed a franchised network for the whole of the country. That is not happening in England.

Wales is also different because so few areas have enough demand for commercial operation anyway, so a very large chunk of it is tendered anyway.

 

[py_megapixel]

I hope DfT is not about to pass up on a perfect opportunity to start marketing, designing and scheduling "public transport" as a single coherent system - rather than the disconnected mess we have now, where if your journey would be best served by a train and then a bus it'll probably cost more than driving because you have to pay two fares.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I hope DfT is not about to pass up on a perfect opportunity to start marketing, designing and scheduling "public transport" as a single coherent system - rather than the disconnected mess we have now, where if your journey would be best served by a train and then a bus it'll probably cost more than driving because you have to pay two fares.

I think we can be sure it will do exactly that.

 

[Goldfish62]

I hope DfT is not about to pass up on a perfect opportunity to start marketing, designing and scheduling "public transport" as a single coherent system - rather than the disconnected mess we have now, where if your journey would be best served by a train and then a bus it'll probably cost more than driving because you have to pay two fares.

Well of course it's not going to do that. You only have to read the National Bus Strategy to work that out. Responsibility lies and will continue to lie with individual local authorities doing their own thing.

 

[birchesgreen]

The West Midlands has a bus brand (announced the same time as the rail and tram ones) though few buses have been done in it to date.

 

[Goldfish62]

The West Midlands has a bus brand (announced the same time as the rail and tram ones) though few buses have been done in it to date.

And it's gone nowhere since Diamond pulled out leaving National Express West Midlands as the only participant.

 

[birchesgreen]

And it's gone nowhere since Diamond pulled out leaving NX West Midlands as the only participant.

And NX arn't really interested either having pushed hard on their own brands. I've only ever seen one bus in WM Bus livery.

 

[domcoop7]

If we're going back to the 70s, there's always the "mirrored N chevron" logo thing...

Something like this?

(Image below shows former National Bus Company "Double N" logo with "Great British Bus Company" name)

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Something like this?

View attachment 112626

That's truly horrendous.

 

[Class360/1]

Something like this?

View attachment 112626

My eyes hurt from looking at that!

 

[Goldfish62]

Something like this?

View attachment 112626

Can hardly name it "British" because the National Bus Company never operated in Scotland.

 

[physics34]

Something like this?

View attachment 112626

Lol. The logo is burnt into my memory after spending most of my youth travelling on London Country buses to school, getting National Express coaches to see family around the country and then getting on Hants &Dorset(later Wilts &Dorset), East Kent, Maidstone &District, Southdown and Ribble buses when on holiday

 

[domcoop7]

My eyes hurt from looking at that!

Mine too!

(Which probably means they'll pick it!)

 

[nlogax]

Something like this?

Wow.. no, let's not.

 

[DJ_K666]

Lol. The logo is burnt into my memory after spending most of my youth travelling on London Country buses to school, getting National Express coaches to see family around the country and then getting on Hants &Dorset(later Wilts &Dorset), East Kent, Maidstone &District, Southdown and Ribble buses when on holiday

Those are fond memories for me too. My memory of deregulation was my dad's office at Pool Valley coach station in Brighton (then a proper bus station, now a desolate shadow of its former self and somewhere not to hang around after dusk) moving two doors down. Red and cream buses appearing seemingly overnight in place of the familiar old green VRs and mk1 and 2 Nationals, and Southdown going from green/white stripe to green and cream before Stagecoach started appearing down there.

Personally I would much rather see this at the station as i arrive to catch a train. Not everyone will agree with me I know. But to each their own. I don't have the fonts for the bus equivalent but lets say in my current situation it would probably involve the words Midland and Red somewhere in the name.

If we're going back to the 70s, there's always the "mirrored N chevron" logo thing...

Need either red or green liveries too. With red or green and white for coaches