Where is the L in London Northwestern Logo?

[Inthewest]

You can see the N and W clearly, still haven't found the L.
Can anyone point it out?

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Can you post a piccie of the logo?

 

[Cowley]

Can you post a piccie of the logo?

Here you go.
It’s quite clearly upside down and back to front at the top left.
(I haven’t got a clue actually)

 

[AlterEgo]

I thought the logo was just N W, but that’s just me. I can’t see the R!

 

[Berliner]

Here you go.
It’s quite clearly upside down and back to front at the top left.
(I haven’t got a clue actually)

View attachment 102949

I thought the white was the L, but styled so it's pointing in the northwest direction.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I don't think there is one - it's just NW.

It was originally stylised as London Northwestern Railway (later changed to London Northwestern Railway) so this might make a bit of sense.

 

[Inthewest]

Oh, I thought the lighter bit was the "n" so it's NW.

 

[krus_aragon]

Oh, I thought the lighter bit was the "n" so it's NW.

There's a capital "N" there using the two green lines and the little white rhombus.

 

[Spartacus]

Surely it’s the white bit in the top left, just stylised and rotated, not all that dissimilar to the Leeds United ‘smilie’ badges of the 70s.

 

[gg1]

Oh, I thought the lighter bit was the "n" so it's NW.

Same here, I interpreted it as a lower case n and a capital W (although looking at it again it could just as easily be a lower case w), which just seemed like a poor logo.

 

[pdeaves]

Does there need to be an L in the logo? A logo doesn't need any lettering at all. It's probably moot as that's what the logo is and I doubt it will change any time soon!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Same here, I interpreted it as a lower case n and a capital W (although looking at it again it could just as easily be a lower case w), which just seemed like a poor logo.

The whole marketing package is rank amateurish compared with the excellent Best Impressions designs for LM. How the two main WCML operators have fallen, largely in the same way, though at least Avanti just looks rubbish and they haven't introduced an unrealistic timetable that caused most of the service to collapse on a daily basis (COVID gave them a nice way out of that).

 

[stuu]

I'm a graphic designer, to me it looks like the white bit is a reference to North West I.e. it is the north west part of the logo, if it were a compass/map. This is the sort of subtle thing graphic designers do which they think is clever but the public completely misses

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Same here, I interpreted it as a lower case n and a capital W (although looking at it again it could just as easily be a lower case w), which just seemed like a poor logo.

That's how I interpreted it. The lower case n being the white bits. A bit reminiscent of the 'n' in the Northern logo in the way it omits the tail at the top left corner that the letter 'n' normally has.

Whatever the interpretation, to my mind it's a really messy, unpleasant-looking, logo. The kind that I wonder how it ever got approved!

 

[Bletchleyite]

That's how I interpreted it. The lower case n being the white bits. A bit reminiscent of the 'n' in the Northern logo in the way it omits the tail at the top left corner that the letter 'n' normally has.

Whatever the interpretation, to my mind it's a really messy, unpleasant-looking, logo. The kind that I wonder how it ever got approved!

Totally in keeping with the TOC it represents

 

[Islineclear3_1]

I'm a graphic designer, to me it looks like the white bit is a reference to North West I.e. it is the north west part of the logo, if it were a compass/map. This is the sort of subtle thing graphic designers do which they think is clever but the public completely misses

That was my first impression. Then I thought, were the designers trying to be clever to make it into a kinda "L" shape?

But I agree, it's a poor logo if it's meant to represent London & North Western Railway

 

[185]

The north west is clearly the more important end of the route.



*runs for cover*

 

[Bletchleyite]

The north west is clearly the more important end of the route.



*runs for cover*

Or London is so important that it is the default?

 

[fgwrich]

The whole marketing package is rank amateurish compared with the excellent Best Impressions designs for LM.

On that front I completely agree. Everything Best Impressions did for London Midland just seemed to work, from the branding to the interiors to the posters. Even the simple distinction between West Coast & City branding was neat. A much missed TOC compared to the rather clunky and rather messy looking LNWR / WMT we have now. At least the livery on the WMT has finally settled down to become something nearly as smart as LM.

 

[Bletchleyite]

On that front I completely agree. Everything Best Impressions did for London Midland just seemed to work, from the branding to the interiors to the posters. Even the simple distinction between West Coast & City branding was neat. A much missed TOC compared to the rather clunky and rather messy looking LNWR / WMT we have now. At least the livery on the WMT has finally settled down to become something nearly as smart as LM.

The "Trebor mints" livery is growing on me but the whole package is still weak. Though as an upside they are at least willing to pay to get the 350/2s out on a weekend, and so the scourge of excessive 4-car operation is over.

 

[HainultLoop]

Inevitable comment that the North Western Railway has its terminus on Sodor.

 

[yorkie]

That was my first impression. Then I thought, were the designers trying to be clever to make it into a kinda "L" shape?

But I agree, it's a poor logo if it's meant to represent London & North Western Railway

It's worse than that; the brand name is London Northwestern Railway (LNR).

It's got to be one of the worst logos ever.

 

[OhNoAPacer]

Am I the only one who is getting flashbacks to London Weekend Television?

 

[MargaretNoodle]

It's just dawned on me that perhaps, what I originally thought was a capital N is in fact a piece of track, with the black being the rails and the white being a sleeper.

That would mean reading left to right you would get L (Small white oriented to the North west) N (Small Northern style N) W R (Railway being symbolised by the tracks).

Maybe it's getting too late...

 

[bramling]

The "Trebor mints" livery is growing on me but the whole package is still weak. Though as an upside they are at least willing to pay to get the 350/2s out on a weekend, and so the scourge of excessive 4-car operation is over.

This is the thing for me. London Midland may have had a strong brand, but I associate them with two things - short trains, and these short trains stuffed full of people poached from Virgin by means of advance tickets.

Not that LNwR have been wonderful either with their completely self-inflicted and predictable timetable fiasco, but I’d choose an operator who provides capacity over one who has a nice brand but fails to fulfil the basic requirement of providing sufficient capacity.

 

[Lewlew]

LNR are doing a better job than London Midland ever managed. They still struggle with giving out information during any disruption and take a very very long time to recover the service but that's the whole WCML, Avanti are just as bad.

 

[TRAX]

Looks like I’m the only one who absolutely loves the WMR and LNWR logos, overall branding, and liveries. Smart and modern.

 

[physics34]

Hopefully this will disappear anyway when GBR come online