From the Conductor's Office of Charlie Irons: Trains

Showing posts with label Trains. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Choo-choos, funnies, and brews ~ or~ Loves and logos

Logos are pretty much nothing more than a nice, fancy stick on badge saying...

The idea behind them is, basically, to give some sort of cohesive identity to a group, company, or institution; much the same way the heralds did for guilds, clans, and families back in antiquity. Since their basic inception, until now, there's been a few rules and guidelines that have been established on how they are used; from the concept of building them to scale, to how to apply them in layouts and branding. And all that's fine and dandy, but what we really want to know is how they are applied where it really counts...

Trains and comics! (I mean, really, it's me; what did you expect?)

Christian Annyas, designer and blogger, is quick to point out that the first railroads were pretty much established nearly fifty years before the first logo was trademarked. And in an age when stationary and such were created by printers, not designers, it would be common for railway logos to reuse the exact same elements; generally cut from the same block forms.

As technology grew, and schools of design took hold in America, so, to, did the ornate nature and complexity of the train logo change and grow; though,for the most part, still staying bold, iconic, and simple. In 1954 the New Haven Railroad did a major overhaul and upgrade of their entire system. And, along with that, tried to create a whole new corporate identity for themselves. From train exteriors to passenger interiors, stationary, all the way down to matchbooks, everything was treated to the brown, white, and orange color shcemeing, along with the bold "N" over "H". Until this point, pretty much every railroad company was using a more drab earth tone scheme; so this really popped.

They even got an HO scale corp. identity... how cute!

Along those same lines, the Canadian Railway revamped its logo in 1960 with a very stylized typographical look that, in turn, influenced the rest of the 1960's logo designs with its creation of a moniker out of its initials. CSX Transportation would take this one step further in 1986 when it took both iconic logo design and typography and created probably the most tell tale logo for any rail system. One that is, in fact, still used today, some twenty six years later.

These fine examples of train logo design, however, don't really tell you how influential they are. Well, not as much as how other industries have capitalized on them for their own branding. From restaurants to online learning sites, the train logo has pretty much aided many other companies in their own corporate identity. Generally they borrow the themes of power, fire, steam and mobility, tapping into the nostalgia of the once great rail lines and the promise of modernization and connectivity that the locomotive brought to the industrial world.

Comics, too, have made great use of the logo to create a sense of identity to sell each of the particular brands of titles. Most notably, DC Comics went through a revamp of their classic logo just recently. In doing so, the opted for a the page peel back, like an invite to readers to see what's inside. Marvel has capitalized for decades on the big "M" in all its various branding. Smaller houses have also put their own persona spin on logos for branding; making good use of the way a logo can set up a personality to a company "face".

And where does that leave your truly, as both a lover of trains and comics? Well, see for yourself as I have put together two of my great loves as I venture out into the world of comic book creation with the logos I use for Neverland Transit Authority...

Heck, I've even got my own train ticket!

So... what was that first registered logo, you may be wondering...? Well, as sure as I love comics and trains, it was for another great love of mine... BEER!

Yes, the first registered logo was for Bass Brewery in 1876. So, to commemorate, I leave you with a collection of old beer logos; of which I have enjoyed many...

Not you, PBR; you're hipster swill. You go home!

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Yeah, that's the Ticket!

So, as life gets back to normal... What ever that means for your dear old Conductor... the old creative steam gets to flowing from the boiler, again. And then new things get born for NTA Comics. Tonight's newest addition? This...

Yep, looks like we have our very first official train ticket. Well, to be honest, this is a rough that was originally intended as part of an outfit for the Great Dickens Christmas Fair happening at the Cow Palace in San Francisco; which runs from Thanksgiving weekend until December 23rd.

So, while this version will be nicely tucked into my bowler's hat band, a truly official ticket will be available shortly after the new year. Hopefully it'll be more than just a silly souvenir. More than likely I'll use it as part of a convention promo, when I can start doing comic conventions, again.

Then I can go around yelling "TICKETS PLEASE!" like a good Conductor is supposed to...

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Desert caravan... train?

Maybe I could come up with some clever rip on the Burnering Man Express, or something... Truth is, it's just a neat picture of a locomotive graveyard. Original photographer or location unknown, lifted from Satunnainen.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

NO TICKET!

Whether you want to give the credit to being Scottish, or not, is okay;

either way this tosser learned a valuable lesson...

Conductors have friends. Big friends.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Tree tracks...

It's that time of year, again. And we, here at Neverland Transit Authority's Grand Central Station, like many, enjoy the festive tradition of putting up a holiday tree.

And here it is, in all its plastic, pre-wired glory!

Yes, trimmed with glowing holiday lights is this little artificial beauty. Lovingly erected by yours truly in the station's sitting lounge, this bad boy has witnessed many a holiday ritual.

Of course, to fully appreciate it, you have to take a closer look...

Yep, that's right... from top to bottom this thing is covered - COVERED - with tiny trains and locomotives. Some ornaments date back over 30 years!

NOW it's officially the holidays here at
Grand Central Station!

Friday, December 9, 2011

Walking in a Minatur Wunderland!

I know where I want to go for my next vacation!!!!

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Gettin' back on track!

Okay, sure; maybe I'm biased, just a little. Okay, okay; I'm biased a lot.

However, this does make massive amounts of practical sense. You see, pictured above are five countries that have rail systems that link their country, and others, all over Europe and Asia. At the fast and comfortable speeds these trains travel at - with impeccable safety, I might add - a train pass can take you over nearly the whole of the continent in a matter of a couple days.

Meanwhile, if I wanted to, say, take a train from San Francisco to Los Angeles -
a trip any of these trains can make in an hour -
it would take me nearly an entire day.
And that's not so much because the service is slow
as to actually find that service.

Look, before we get all Ayn Rand here, we need to accept a few things. And first, and foremost, in this crazy economy, is that, when everything is as tight and desperate as it has gotten, the call to limit government to an extreme is ridiculous when government has become the primary customer who, through spending on infrastructure, can revitalize our nation.

That, and we'll get some really cool new trains, too! Just sayin'...

Friday, October 14, 2011

Most epic Flash Mob, ever!

On May 2, 2011, the Copenhagen Philharmonic amazed commuters at the Copenhagen Central Train Station, as they created a kind of orchestral "flash mob" – performing Ravel's famed Bolero, with the musicians gradually assembling in place as the work progresses.