{"id":15500,"date":"2025-10-22T19:29:46","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T12:29:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cstc.vn\/blogtsk\/excellent-ordinary-how-the-uks-new-rail-clock-was-designed\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T19:29:46","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T12:29:46","slug":"excellent-ordinary-how-the-uks-new-rail-clock-was-designed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cstc.vn\/blogtsk\/excellent-ordinary-how-the-uks-new-rail-clock-was-designed\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cExcellent ordinary\u201d \u2013 how the UK\u2019s new rail clock was designed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week at London Bridge Station, Rail Clock<\/em> was unveiled to the public.<\/p>\n

The striking circular design, which uses both Gerry Barney\u2019s 1965 double arrow motif, and Margaret Calvert\u2019s Rail Alphabet 2<\/em> typeface, will roll out across the UK\u2019s rail network in both physical and digital iterations.<\/p>\n

It was designed by Design Bridge & Partners<\/a>, who won a competition run by Network Rail, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and the Design Museum, which attracted more than 100 entries.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

But the journey which led to Rail Clock<\/em> actually began in 2018, when Network Rail embarked on a mission to improve design across our railways.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to elevate the importance of design, because it\u2019s so important to passengers and the communities around stations,\u201c explains Anthony Dewar, professional head of buildings and architecture at Network Rail.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe felt that as an industry, we\u2019d lost that connection as to why design was so important.\u201d<\/p>\n

So seven years ago, Network Rail ran a design competition around station footbridges; then in 2021 they looked at station design.<\/p>\n

The success of these previous contests fed Dewar\u2019s belief that design could play an integral part in improving everyone\u2019s experience on the railways. And in that time, Network Rail\u2019s open source design guidelines have been adopted by rail networks across the world.<\/p>\n

For 2025 \u2013 which is the railway\u2019s 200th birthday \u2013 Network Rail decided to focus on clocks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re getting a train, you look for the platform, and you look for the time,\u201d Dewar says. \u201cThat\u2019s why a clock is one of the most important parts of a passenger journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

So they launched a contest for a \u201cstandardised, consistent and accessible design to significantly enhance the passenger experience, while reflecting the design and brand history of the railway.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The UK hasn\u2019t had a standard clock design since 1974, when it was set out as part of British Rail\u2019s corporate design guide. And, Dewar explains, privatisation has created a network of sub-brands on our railways, and \u201ca proliferation of different types of clock.\u201d<\/p>\n

Network Rail worked with RIBA and Design Museum to create the brief, and to ensure it was as open as possible. It was deliberately called a timepiece competition, not a clock competition, \u201cbecause we didn\u2019t want to set preconceptions about what we wanted,\u201d Dewar says.<\/p>\n

Design Bridge and Partners was one of many studios attracted to the complex but exciting brief \u2013 how do you create something both iconic and practical, or \u201cexcellent ordinary\u201d as Dewar and his team described it.<\/p>\n

The agency kicked off with informal lunchtime brainstorms, which included both creatives but also other staff interested in the brief, says Mark Wood, creative partner at Design Bridge and Partners.<\/p>\n

This resulted in a wide range of ideas, including some \u201clovely, crazy ones\u201d like a transparent clock with animated birds flying onto it.<\/p>\n

Rail Clock by Design Bridge and Partners at London Bridge station<\/p>\n

As they honed their ideas down to their final entries, the focus became finding something that spoke to, and celebrated, the UK\u2019s design heritage.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was key to come up with an idea that could only ever be for our railway,\u201d Wood explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously the Swiss railway clock is a beautiful thing, but that\u2019s for the Swiss railway. So that led us to the double arrow symbol, which is a fabulous design, and one of the things you associate with Britain.\u201d<\/p>\n

The more they played with Barney\u2019s 1965 design, the more it felt right. \u201cThe essence of the double arrow is all about connecting people,\u201d Wood says. Stations he points out, echoing Hugh Grant\u2019s voiceover at the start of Love Actually,<\/em> are more than transitional spaces that get people from A to B.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is an emotional attachment to train stations,\u201d Wood says. \u201cStand there for ten minutes and you see people hugging, and meeting each other or dropping people off. Parents in tears because their son or daughter is getting on a train to go to university.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo how could we make that work as a bigger storytelling device? Once that story became circular, it led to the movement of the arrows meeting at the bottom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rail Clock by Design Bridge and Partners at Charing Cross station<\/p>\n

Using Calvert\u2019s Typeface 2<\/em>, digitised by Henrik Kubel, also seemed like an obvious decision, but the team wanted to strike a balance between adopting these symbols and re-positioning them for the modern-day.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a really tricky balance,\u201d says Kevin Lan, creative director at Design Bridge and Partners. \u201cThe double arrow was very forward-thinking for its time. And because of privatisation we don\u2019t see it that much anymore, particularly on trains. But it\u2019s almost like a crown jewel of an asset, and it would seem a bit silly to ignore it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The question the design team kept asking, Wood adds, was, \u201c What could we do to it that doesn\u2019t break it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Rail Clock<\/em> was one of more than 100 entries that Network Rail received. Many of them, Dewar says, were \u201cvery similar\u201d to the Swiss railway clock, which he notes drily is what Chat GPT suggests if you ask it to outline a new clock design.<\/p>\n

After winnowing it down to a final five, Design Bridge actually had two entrants in the list, alongside ideas from Bath studio Matter, London-based Seymourpowell, and Paris agency AREP.<\/p>\n

Over a series of workshops, the judges made it clear that Rail Clock<\/em> was their preferred Design Bridge entry, and in the end it emerged as the chosen design. \u201cIt was a stand-out different submission,\u201d Dewar says. \u201cI think the other three were all analogue clocks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to do things in a very measured way. But that doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t achieve excellence.\u201d<\/p>\n

In finalising the design, Design Bridge went out of their way to make sure Barney, Calvert and Kubel were happy with the way their designs had been used.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are some serious heavyweights in graphic design,\u201d Lan laughs. \u201cWith Jerry, we were fucking with his logo \u2013 we bent it and made it move in a way maybe never thought about. So we had to get him on board.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barney, for his part, was \u201cthrilled\u201d to see his creation form part of the new design, and described the new clock as \u201creally magic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDesign should evolve,\u201d Wood says, \u201cwhile still staying true to the original ideas. There\u2019s always room for doing something different, but doing it in a respectful way was really important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dewar adds that Network Rail also consulted experts in the UK\u2019s rail design history, including Dr David Lawrence, who has written several books for Network Rail, and designer Nick Job, who runs the Double Arrow website<\/a>, dedicated to British Rail\u2019s corporate identity, and whom Dewar describes as a \u201ca walking encyclopedia.\u201d<\/p>\n

A mock up of Rail Clock by Design Bridge and Partners outside a station<\/p>\n

Once the designs were finalised, the team had to think about how they could be rolled out across the country, and across different mediums.<\/p>\n

There were practical considerations for the physical versions \u2013 \u201cWe discovered round screens are quite hard to make,\u201d Wood says \u2013 but also wider questions about adapting it to show up in different ways, from departure boards, to trains, to a soon-to-be-released app.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ambition is that this needs to be everywhere\u201d Lan says.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it\u2019s the repetition that will make it iconic,\u201d Wood adds.<\/p>\n

Rail Clock<\/em> launched with the 1.8 metre version in London Bridge, and on screens at around 25 stations across the country. To assuage Twitter anxiety, Wood points out there are no plans to replace the beautiful clocks in stations like London Victoria.<\/p>\n

There are plans to install physical versions in as many stations as possible, but Lan accepts that with public finances under pressure, there are other bits of the rail network that need money spent on them first.<\/p>\n

The digital roll-out ensures they can get the designs out \u201crapidly, so that more people can appreciate it and understand it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Similarly for Dewar and his team, the unveiling last week is just the start.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still recovering from the launch, in a really positive way,\u201d he says. \u201cThere\u2019s several years worth of work here, and we\u2019ve had discussions that have gone into an incredible level of technical detail.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut there\u2019s something in the beautiful simplicity of Rail Clock<\/em>. It looks like it should have always been there, and to achieve that with a piece of physical design is very difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe used the phrase \u2018excellent ordinary\u2019 in the brief because we\u2019re aware of the pressures on public funding. We had to do things in a very measured way. But that doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t achieve excellence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nWhat to read next: <\/strong>What is your earliest design memory?<\/a> | The Class of 2025 \u2013 our pick of this year\u2019s degree show projects<\/a> | Deep impact \u2013 why design must prove its worth more than ever<\/a> | \u201cIt was a bit nuts\u201d \u2013 Teo Connor on designing the new Airbnb app<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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