Coventry Route Branding

[Tony]

Most of Coventry's Enviro 400s are to receive 21 route branding, properly over the next couple of days, not little window strips like the one has

[don]

Thanks for the update - no doubt there'll be some photos appearing soon  :)

[CraigStar]

I saw 4833 earlier with the branding. Not sure orange was the best colour to go with the blue, but it looked alright. Plus the front part under the window is also orange with "nationalexpress Coventry21", unlike the NXWM branded Enviro's which don't have this. Do we know if any other Coventry routes are to be branded in the future?

[settlerman]

I saw 4833 earlier with the branding. Not sure orange was the best colour to go with the blue, but it looked alright. Plus the front part under the window is also orange with "nationalexpress Coventry21", unlike the NXWM branded Enviro's which don't have this. Do we know if any other Coventry routes are to be branded in the future?

Spotted one today, not impressed.

[John]

Here it is
http://www.flickr.com/photos/coventrybuspics/7887435184/

To be honest, I do like it better than the 33/51/935/X51 style branding.

[andy]

From the front it looks a bit like the old Stagecoach livery now, not sure about the grill strip atall...

[don]

I quite like that  - at least there's sufficient blue remaining on the fornt to make it look like an NXC bus.

[jrwxyz]

Nope. Do not like.

They've covered up the windows instead of the white and covered over the blue when the black surround is a perfect place for branding! That little orange strip just looks weird.

I didn't even notice the frequency on the windows at first, so they're hardly showing off the fact how often they are.

It would've been good if it said "Coventry City Centre" in the middle as it's the main destination. Just having "city centre" looks odd.

And they've not put on the mini connection bars, so there's even more white. What will they be doing with this space, as there's no orange circle at the back?

[Tony]

Nope. Do not like.

They've covered up the windows instead of the white and covered over the blue when the black surround is a perfect place for branding! That little orange strip just looks weird.

I didn't even notice the frequency on the windows at first, so they're hardly showing off the fact how often they are.

It would've been good if it said "Coventry City Centre" in the middle as it's the main destination. Just having "city centre" looks odd.

And they've not put on the mini connection bars, so there's even more white. What will they be doing with this space, as there's no orange circle at the back?

Why would they put 'Coventry' City Centre on? That is obviously someone not from Coventry saying that. I don't know of any branding from any company that uses something similar to that. If a route runs between towns you normally just use the town name, and if it is a local service you normally use town centre or City Centre

[jrwxyz]

So why don't they put City Centre on the 33/51, etc? They don't go to any other city centres or outside of Birmingham for some of the routes.

And branding isn't just for locals. Didn't they just have people from around the world there for the Olympic football? City centre might've been Birmingham for all they knew... if NXC had even had their best buses in the city.

[Ash]

The branding looks quite smart as suits the enviro 400's well in my opinion, Tony is it likely any other services will follow in Coventry may be 13 branding for the gemini's?

[Tony]

Because both the 33 and 51 finish their journies in Walsall (yes Pheasey is in Walsall) so you put Birmingham, not not Birmingham City Centre you want.

Think about what people say. If you are in Wood End people won't say I am going to Coventry City Centre it will be either 'Town' or the City Centre. Hence the use of City Centre on the 21

People in Pheasey whould normally say they are going to Birmingham or Walsall.

People in Walsall certainly wouldn't say they were going to City Centre if heading of shopping in Birmingham

[jrwxyz]

About 50 yards into Walsall from the Queslett Road... Hardly Walsall town centre, is it?

And all the buses in Birmingham say that on the front of them when they're in service, even the ones which never touch another local authority. So why don't they just put City Centre? There isn't another city for miles! And then Town Centre for Walsall, West Brom, Dudley or Solihull depending on which garage they're with, just to make things more confusing. In Coventry some routes go miles away as well, so it could even be Lichfield City Centre... if Facebook Reiss ever gets his way.

I suppose NXC know nothing about branding and graphic design, so I'll just leave them to it... Maybe one day we'll get National Express Birmingham around here and be able to put City Centre.

[Ash]

You would have trouble with the 126 as it would be city centre on both destination blinds  for both Wolverhampton and Birmingham.

[Mike K]

Here it is
http://www.flickr.com/photos/coventrybuspics/7887435184/

To be honest, I do like it better than the 33/51/935/X51 style branding.

Agreed. I prefer it to the 33, 51 etc branding primarily because it avoids most of the vinyl around the destination display, although it would look better without the random orange strip over the destination box. Looks a touch more modern than other recent branding efforts.