British Rail Corporate Identity Manual Explained

The British Rail Corporate Identity Manual is a corporate identity guide created in 1965 by British Rail. It was conceived in 1964, and finished in July 1965 by British Rail's Design Research Unit,^[1] and introduced British Rail's enduring double arrow logo, created by Gerald Barney and still in use today as the logo for National Rail.^[2] The manual spanned four volumes, and was created as part of a comprehensive redesign of British Rail following the Beeching Cuts as part of a plan to attract more passengers.^[3] It is noted as a piece of British design history.

History

The first volume, published in July 1965, introduced Rail Blue, a standardised colour for use of rolling stock liveries and the total adoption of Rail Alphabet, a typeface designed by Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert, for use across the British Rail network.^[4] It was exhibited at the Design Council, London in the same year. The second volume was published in November 1966, contained guidance on printed publicity such as posters and regional logos.^[5] The third and fourth volumes, issued in 1970, focused on the non-rail sectors of British Rail, including architecture, and new branding for Sealink.^[6]

In 2016, the manual raised £55,102 for a reprint, combining the four volumes into one book.^{[7] [8]}

Notes and References

1. News: The much-anticipated British Rail Corporate Identity Manual reproduction is here. 2016-11-15. It's Nice That. 2016-12-02.
2. Book: https://books.google.com/books?id=Jcc7AwAAQBAJ&dq=british%20rail%20ferret%20dartboard&pg=PT120. British Railways: The Nation's Railway. 2013. The History Press. 9780752497426. Stroud. 6: In Search of an Identity. Jackson. Tanya. 11 September 2015.
3. News: British Rail Reissues Its Iconic Midcentury Graphic Standards Manuals. 2015-12-04. Co.Design. en-US. In the 1950s, it gradually began losing money and traffic declined, so the leadership looked for ways to reverse the misfortune. They decided that a corporate identity could help unify the disjointed railway network and hired the Design Research Unit in 1964 to conceive of the concept, which was finalized in 1965.. 2016-12-02.
4. Book: British Rail Corporate Identity. Sheet 1/10.
5. News: Design Research Studio's British Rail Corporate Identity Manuals to be published in entirety. 2015-11-23. It's Nice That. 2016-12-02.
6. Book: British Rail Corporate Identity Manual. Sheet 7/01.
7. Web site: British Rail Corporate Identity Manual. Kickstarter. en-US. 2016-12-02.
8. News: Manual labour - Creative Review. 2015-12-21. Creative Review. en-GB. 2016-12-02.