When the Covid pandemic happened we were presented with a challenge to create a cohesive and clear style for messages pertaining to the rapidly changing advice for customers travelling on the GWR network. There was a lot of anxiety among the travelling public, and the public in general. The unprecedented disruption the pandemic caused to everyday life and the evolving advice around safety and hygiene meant it was a top priority to make sure people had access to very clear, up to date advice that met the standards set by the government, which at times was changing every week.
The first step was to look at the pre-existing creatives for various types of messages across the business, consider the rationale behind each design and see if there are any insights we can gather that will help to inform the style for Project Phoenix.
Customers on our network were already familiar with our Policy creative, a very simple style for messages that convey information around policies such as "no surfboards on trains" or "no e-scooters allowed" but this creative style also extended to travel advice such as "stay hydrated when you travel" and advice around luggage. The design consisted of a roundel icon on a white background with clear messaging above (header Glypha 55 Roman/Standard, body copy Univers 45 Light) in black.
This clean, clear messaging was already well established and familiar for those travelling on the GWR network, and with the nature of Project Phoenix advice being both positive (actions we ask the public to take) and negative (actions we do not allow) messages it felt the Policy creative was a good foundation upon which to build on.
I created a set of icons that met the criteria needed for Project Phoenix, using accent green as the signature colour, removing the roundel element to make it distinct from the Policy creative while close enough in style to be coherent when seen in context with other designs.
Extrapolating from this starting point we were able to use this creative across multiple channels and maintain consistency across all Project Phoenix messages. Bringing the messages to life with animated visuals that helped drive home messages through story telling. Posters, on-board messaging, online banners and social posts maintained this consistent style in both static and animated versions.
The simplicity of the design allowed for very effective, clear messaging while at the same time being easy to update quickly (a vital feature as there were 20 or more edits and updates needed a day at times and when advice changed everything needed to be updated across all channels within a day or two).
The end result was a very effective campaign of designs that clearly informed customers of travel advice during the pandemic. The easily editable designs gave us the agility to respond reflexively to rapidly changing government advice and keep all advice accurate and up to date in a format that felt familiar for those used to travelling on the GWR network.
