Sunday, 4 April 2004

Personal

One company, one colour?

After school I studied at Imperial in London. The college was founded in 1907 by merging three older colleges on a single site in South Kensington. The college scarf reflects this: the colours of each constituent college are present. (And - on the reverse side - the colours of the University of London remind us that Imperial itself it just one part of a larger institution.)

The resultant scarf clashes with anything you might choose to wear, a perfect example of design by committee. (But who wears college scarves these days anyway?)

I was reminded of this yesterday when I got the train in to Ipswich. On 1 April, our local train services - along with those of two other routes - were taken over by a new company. And following Imperial's example they've got their corporate colours by combining those of their predecessors. Well, you wouldn't want to pick just one would you?

The company's name is fun too - One. Plenty of cause for amusement when services are announced: "The eight-thirty [pause] One service to London ...". Of course since they've not repainted all the trains yet, confusion is enhanced by the actual train saying Anglia Railways on the side.

Posted by pab at 21:48