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.[5][6]
In 2016, the manual raised £55,102 for a reprint, combining the four volumes into one book.[7][8][9]
^"British Rail Reissues Its Iconic Midcentury Graphic Standards Manuals". Co.Design. 4 December 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2016. 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.
