Ribble to Ribl

IDENTITY PARADE The MHD Partnership goes out on a creative limb to conceive a bold new brand image for one of the greatest names of the bygone British bus industry — minus a surplus consonant and vowel RIBBLE TO RIBL ibble Motor Services was a Stagecoach offloaded the east Lancashire exploring the founding stone of today’s bus operations to Blazefield in 2001 and way the letters industry, a territorial operator eventually dropped the Ribble name. worked together. R whose red and cream buses served Time, then, for us to challenge The MHD By removing any most of Lancashire and whose cream and Partnership to imagine that Ribble is still corners, the logo red coaches — some branded Standerwick alive but seeking a modern identity. ‘With has a softness — travelled widely on express services and Ribble’s impressive history at hand, we had and flow to it, yet extended tours. lots of inspiration to draw on when it came to maintains that It came into existence in 1919, based in repositioning this iconic brand,’ says account all-important Preston and took its name from the river that director Mike Fletcher. legibility. flows through the city on a 75mile course ‘We made the decision to look primarily ‘Unsurprisingly, from North Yorkshire to Lytham. at its Lancashire to London coach service, we have ditched For almost 50 years it was part of the BET affectionately called The Gay Hostess. With the 1960s colour group, passing into state ownership in 1967 an eye-catching livery back in the 1960s, and palette and gone ahead of the creation of the National Bus offering real luxury, we were determined to for a contemporary Company in January 1969. When NBC went do branding justice to this updated execution. deep plum base corporate three years later, Ribble’s buses ‘To bring a modern twist on a traditional colour that exudes became poppy red and white. name, we decided to drop two of the last luxury and class. It was split up in 1986, losing territory to three letters from Ribble, leaving simply Ribl. It is coupled with neighbouring Cumberland and the new North Then by having an initial lower case letter a secondary hot pink that gives the livery Western Road Car. Privatisation came late, “r” we had a memorable, quirky, attractive some real pizzazz. The large, yet subtle, pink in a March 1988 management buyout that word shape. Rather than basing the logo identity graphic at the rear of the bus is eye sold out to Stagecoach the following year. on a particular font, it was hand drawn by catching against the dark plum, and as it is limited to a thin key line, offers minimal viewing intrusion. ‘The strapline ‘feel the ribl effect’ is a nod to the high standard of comfort you would enjoy travelling on this coach and offers a subtle play on words. The timetable provides an example of how the branding would evolve — simple, stylish and above all classy. ‘The 21st century benefits take pride of place and have been updated to be cutting- edge today and include at-seat Netflix entertainment, personal climate control, reclining massage seats, free superfast WiFi, onboard barista and toilets,’ he adds. ‘The coach livery design translates across to the standard bus design with an air of simplicity. This one we have marked as ‘the world’s most frequent bus’, taking the lead again from the original Ribble services X60 and X70 that held the — possibly self- proclaimed — title back in the 1960s. ■ ■ To see all of the other rebranding projects by The MHD Partnership, visit www. Ribble ‘White Lady’ coach livery on 1248 (DCK 219), a 1951 East Lancs-bodied Leyland Titan PD2/3 preserved as part of Stagecoach’s heritage fleet. mhdpartnership.co.uk. 56 www.busesmag.com March 2017.

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