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Post by ServerKing on Mar 19, 2017 13:01:32 GMT
ServerKing I wouldn't like to see those I-Bus displays from the SEe's being used - whilst they are more informative, they are very hard to see from the rear and I've got good eyesight so not everybody gets the benefit of that. I hope the bus seat concept & the Kindle blind are trialled again - as with anything on a first trial, technology learns from its mistakes so I'd suspect both concepts would perform better next time. TBH vjaska when I saw them they looked cool but they should put a repeater board halfway down the length of the bus as well... but I don't think they thought of that I think the rather thin Kindle Blind paper when backlit plus the side ones for some reason wouldn't update was it's downfall. Something also tells me this is similar tech like the first monochrome PC monitors where an image can get burned onto the screen... so if the bus is a frequent visitor to the 32, you may see a faint outline of '32' no matter what other number is displayed. I did like it though. Hoping the branding looks fairly decent...
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Post by cc2005 on Mar 20, 2017 8:53:45 GMT
2 Photos of VLA 18
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Post by cc2005 on Mar 20, 2017 8:54:34 GMT
Rear of VLA 18 and concept 1
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Post by cc2005 on Mar 20, 2017 8:55:26 GMT
Concept 2 and 3
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Post by cc2005 on Mar 20, 2017 8:55:54 GMT
Cocept 4 and 5 (including the X26)
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Post by planesandtrains on Mar 20, 2017 8:56:43 GMT
Great, doesn't have the route number on it so what will happen if it goes on another route like the 2, newcomers will think that is where the two goes.
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Post by cc2005 on Mar 20, 2017 8:58:17 GMT
Great, doesn't have the route number on it so what will happen if it goes on another route like the 2, newcomers will think that is where the two goes. Exactly what I was thinking! Not sure if there is a plan to install an offside side blind as is suggested in the concept pictures!
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Post by vjaska on Mar 20, 2017 9:36:25 GMT
Many thanks cc2005 for uploading these - shame they're a bit bland but I agree that if your going for the route number, better to be plastered on the side rather than than an offside blind which will probably fail at some point. Concept 4 is probably the worst of the lot - squashing everything under the lower deck windows is silly - Concept 2 or 5 are the ones I'd like to see.
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Post by busman on Mar 20, 2017 10:42:47 GMT
Thanks for posting those concept illustrations. I'm loving the VLA branded for route 19, but blinded for the 176.A sign of things to come? 😂
Hard to how the exact final scale would look, but at first glance that font looks really small - like it would be really hard to see from the other side of the street. "Every x Minutes" should all be in large bright visible font. The number looks like it could be the route number rather than frequency. A side blind on the opposite side? Really? Again very poor readability, unless you are standing next to the vehicle on that side of the bus. If this is the best TfL can do, route branding is doomed to fail.
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Post by Steve09 on Mar 20, 2017 10:59:55 GMT
Many thanks cc2005 for uploading these - shame they're a bit bland but I agree that if your going for the route number, better to be plastered on the side rather than than an offside blind which will probably fail at some point. Concept 4 is probably the worst of the lot - squashing everything under the lower deck windows is silly - Concept 2 or 5 are the ones I'd like to see. I agree, looks a bit bland but I've always liked route branding as it can be a good way to promote a bus route. Being London however, buses are likely to work over a number of routes so it can undermine the effectiveness if a bus branded for one route appears on a different route. I think a good way though to make the buses more eyecatching to passengers would be to include images of landmarks in conjunction with the route branding
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2017 11:12:02 GMT
Call me old fashioned, but the x26 example above, if I didn't know Cromwell Road Bus Stn is in Kingston, then just looking at the information on display, how would I know just by looking that the X26 serves Kingston ?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2017 11:15:02 GMT
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Post by snoggle on Mar 20, 2017 11:29:27 GMT
Thanks for sharing those concepts and the VLA photos. Only TfL could come up with 5 different ways of doing the same thing. I assume the Gold, Silver and Bronze thing is about some pseudo "value" that TfL attach to the route relative to the advertising revenue and whether they'll sacrifice commercial advertising to "promote" the bus route. I'd also point out that some of the locations shown are dreadfully inconsistent. I note on the X26 "brand" there is no National Rail symbol beside Cromwell Rd Bus Station even though it is barely 2 mins walk from Kingston Station. Similarly there are two references to stops in Ilford Town Centre on the 128 but no mention of Gants Hill which is a major interchange point / traffic objective in its own right. I know there are no perfect choices here but the decision to have "locations" covered by the branding be different on Arterial vs Hyper Local ( ) route types is another complication. Why make all of this so complicated?
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Post by l1group on Mar 20, 2017 11:29:37 GMT
I like how concept 5 literally says "i.e. X26" - thus it means that we might not see that elsewhere....at all. Not even 607. I remember when route branding used to be a thing, and strays were fairly frequent. My local one was the route branding on the 111 - it might've worn out over time to the point where the nose of the 747 was pure white, but it was decent. ( offside example here, nearside example here, example after 5 years on H32, all LBR Zenfolio links). Those VAs never stuck on the 111, but never really strayed too far from the 111 until Transdev (blue/green) supplementary logos were added. Then they literally went on every decker AV route. *imagines Kingston, Hampton Court, Hampton, Nurserylands, Hanworth, Hounslow, Heston, Cranford, Harlington Corner, Heathrow Central (roundel, NR arrows, plane symbol) with every 7 minutes on an ADE...on the N9, because strays* For corridors (such as Uxbridge Road, and 25/future 425, for example) - non-specific corridor branding could work pretty well. However, for specific routes, the actual route should be on the bus, or the blinds be locked so it can only run that certain route (which stifles bus flexibility). In Coventry, route branding is everywhere, and the buses normally keep to their route branded routes. A load of "generic" buses are kept, of course. Late nights and the odd day working does yield off-route branded buses on other route branded routes e.g. an E200 branded for the 23/23A on the 9 on Saturday night. However, NXC are pretty good at keeping their branded buses on a certain route. It is pretty odd to see Platinum (branded) buses on non-Platinum routes, which is, erm... More frequent. Reading Buses and trentbarton are the obvious extreme examples, where it's totally different colours for each route/group of routes, and they are both good at keeping their buses firmly on each certain route/s. Good way to promote routes, but it's just an advertising ploy, really. Buses are still a fairly slow way to travel (relative to other means except cycling), except at night.
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Post by redexpress on Mar 20, 2017 11:37:15 GMT
Thanks for posting those concept illustrations. I'm loving the VLA branded for route 19, but blinded for the 176.A sign of things to come? 😂 Hard to how the exact final scale would look, but at first glance that font looks really small - like it would be really hard to see from the other side of the street. "Every x Minutes" should all be in large bright visible font. The number looks like it could be the route number rather than frequency. A side blind on the opposite side? Really? Again very poor readability, unless you are standing next to the vehicle on that side of the bus. If this is the best TfL can do, route branding is doomed to fail. I was thinking the same about the frequency being mistaken for the route number. I do like the offside blind idea though, that can be very useful. But if they're happy with the destination being displayed on the offside, why not at the rear too? Anyway if this is the best branding TfL can come up with, I don't think it's worth the trouble. I suppose the blandest livery in the UK gets the blandest branding! A simple list of places served is not going to be very eye-catching. The X26 line diagram has a little bit more of a visual impact, although it's still quite old-fashioned compared to the modern branding that you see outside of London.
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