So what might have happened had things taken a different turn 23 years ago and Western was still independent today?
Western Scottish had branding and liveries very much of the time its services were dominant in south-west Scotland. As a result of that strength, we were keen to pay lip service to its approach by keeping the serif font, the prominent grey and the dashes of red, yet unsurprisingly adding a touch of modernity to make its style look markedly different to its predecessor.
The key to this rebranding exercise was the mantra “less is more”, realised with subtle touches of colour and use of consistent angles. For the W icon, a long and short stem was taken away, while its top right serif — sitting neatly on the window line — was coloured red. So simple, yet instantly recognisable when used consistently across a suite of branding.
Although we have used some contravision on the windows to give the livery impact at the roadside, we have done so in a way that the passenger’s vision is not really obscured. This was achieved by clever placement and only using small areas – at the front where the seats face inwards, and high up at the rear.
The strong, neutral grey was a positive evolution from the previous branding, and when coupled with those little splashes of colour, oozes style and sophistication.
