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Episode
113

Railroad Logos & Branding

An interview with
Ian Logan & Jonathan Glancey

Introduction

After arriving in America in 1968, the London designer Ian Logan was blown away by the logos and slogans he saw painted on the sides of freight trains rumbling down Main Street. That day was what started a lifelong passion for railroad branding and graphic design, which is the topic of the new book, Logomotive: Railroad Graphics and the American Dream.

In this interview, Ian chats with the creators of the book, Ian Logan and Jonathan Glancey for a passionate discussion around railroad logos and branding.

This episode is sponsored by The Perfect Match, a game where designers submit mood boards created using Adobe Stock assets. If your skilful project is chosen, you will be featured on Adobe's monthly live streaming game show with other talented designers, art directors, and creatives, where the winner goes home with $750!

Ian Logan and Jonathan Glancey Interview Transcription

Ian Paget: Together, you guys have created a book that I happen to have in my hand right now, Logomotive, and that's a book about railroad graphics and the American dream. And rather than just posting a picture on social media to help promote it, I thought I'd invite you both on and to have a chat about railway logos and branding, which is definitely on topic for this podcast. So I think as a starting point for listeners, can you each briefly introduce yourself to the audience?

Ian Logan: Yes, shall I go first?

Ian Paget: Yeah, go for it.

Ian Logan: I'm Ian Logan. I was, oh, originally I trained as an engineer at Westinghouse brake and signal company in Chippenham as an apprentice. And then I went to art school, and I ended up at the Central School in London doing textile design. I ended up by doing graphic design, which made me very interested in things like logos and graphics, and type faces and things like that.