2012-05-08
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party outings 1964 front cover by smallritual on Flickr:
‘party’ here means a group of people. this is a book of suggestions for day trips to tourist destinations
2012-04-02
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Intercity 125 high speed trains waiting to depart from London Paddington station, June 1991. Photograph: David Ashcroft. (via)
(Source: commons.wikimedia.org)
2012-03-29
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Inter-City 125 Oystercard holder and British Rail logo t-shirt, from the shop accompanying the V&A’s British Design exhibition. (Thanks, Chris.)
2012-02-16
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Bring Back British Rail merchandise:
What better way to make your point whilst travelling on the trains, than with this fantastic rail card wallet? Specially designed with the frequent traveller in mind with 3 internal pockets to accommodate a photocard, rail card and ticket. It features the special ‘reverse arrows’ logo designed by Fraser Muggeridge studio and the campaign website address, so you can easily help us spread the word.
Much as I’d like one of these, I miss the lightly textured Railcard wallets of the mid to late nineties. Those things were wonderful. (via)
2012-01-17
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![british rail design cover by smallritual on Flickr:
The [Danish] design of this book looks like 2006, in British terms, rather than 1986. the 1980s were not a good period for swiss-style modernism in Britain. The book celebrates the British Rail corporate identity at a time when it seemed outdated in Britain - a case of ‘you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone’. The British have never been very good at sticking to rational design systems - they get distracted by romanticism and nostalgia.
(Edited for capitalisation.)](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxx30heIzF1qz4vjro1_500.jpg)
british rail design cover by smallritual on Flickr:
The [Danish] design of this book looks like 2006, in British terms, rather than 1986. the 1980s were not a good period for swiss-style modernism in Britain. The book celebrates the British Rail corporate identity at a time when it seemed outdated in Britain - a case of ‘you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone’. The British have never been very good at sticking to rational design systems - they get distracted by romanticism and nostalgia.
(Edited for capitalisation.)
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station timetable by smallritual on Flickr.
Steve Collins (who goes by smallritual online) has been posting scans of the nearly impossible to find Danish Design Council book on British Rail’s design and identity. As he writes of the pocket timetables, “In a sense, the invisibility of this kind of design is the point.” Certainly I look at that now as almost a work of art, whereas for most of my life it was just background.
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HST power cab section by smallritual on Flickr.
Another from Steve Collins, one of a few cross-sections and elevations he’s posted. I have a particular fondness for the InterCity 125 cab shape. It feels like future.
2012-01-07
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One of the classic British graphic identities (and there are many).
(via hammerandcode)
