The Elizabeth Line, also known as Crossrail, beneath the heart of London and connecting Essex with Berkshire opens on 24 May. Its construction has generated oodles of print, from the print needed to communicate instructions to construction teams and plans for what to do where, to the display graphics around the numerous construction sites around London. But once trains are running, print is no longer required. For unlike any other urban transport project in London there will be no printed posters along the platforms or escalators used to reach them. The architects of the Jubilee Line extension stations thought they had eliminated printed posters from their aesthetically clean structures, but were forced to compromise. Now those responsible for the Elizabeth Line gone a step further and have replaced print with video screens.
In truth this has been coming for years. Video screens have adorned escalators in many of the central London Tube stations, often not working and showing extremely suspect colour control, but platforms have been the domain of print. Now posters for theatrical productions, for finance and insurance, for educational courses, for places to visit are to be limited to the old entrance halls. Digital displays will dominate the trains too. There is no space for a printed ‘poems on the Underground’ let alone ads for vitamin supplements, holiday insurance and suspect investment products.
The printed poster has been a huge part of the London Transport culture from its early days. Top artists were commissioned to design posters encouraging people to use tubes and buses to visit the Zoo, Wimbledon Common, Kew Gardens and other far flung reaches of the network. These were printed in colour using lithography at a time when life for most Londoners was very much monochrome. And it was not just London Transport. The railway companies produced posters that remain instantly recognisable. Airlines like BEA and BOAC showed a glimpse of glamorous life in other countries. Pop songs like “I’m Mandy Fly Me” (a favourite of Sir Terry Wogan) celebrated the printed poster. Few will be able tor recall video screen messages about the excitement of travel. Instead of the printed poster exhorting us to Let the train take the strain, we have a dodgy video featuring Grant Shapps.
The train has left the print platform
The Elizabeth Line, also known as Crossrail, beneath the heart of London and connecting Essex with Berkshire opens on 24 May. Its construction has generated oodles of print, from the print needed to communicate instructions to construction teams and plans for what to do where, to the display graphics around the numerous construction sites around London. But once trains are running, print is no longer required. For unlike any other urban transport project in London there will be no printed posters along the platforms or escalators used to reach them. The architects of the Jubilee Line extension stations thought they had eliminated printed posters from their aesthetically clean structures, but were forced to compromise. Now those responsible for the Elizabeth Line gone a step further and have replaced print with video screens.
In truth this has been coming for years. Video screens have adorned escalators in many of the central London Tube stations, often not working and showing extremely suspect colour control, but platforms have been the domain of print. Now posters for theatrical productions, for finance and insurance, for educational courses, for places to visit are to be limited to the old entrance halls. Digital displays will dominate the trains too. There is no space for a printed ‘poems on the Underground’ let alone ads for vitamin supplements, holiday insurance and suspect investment products.
The printed poster has been a huge part of the London Transport culture from its early days. Top artists were commissioned to design posters encouraging people to use tubes and buses to visit the Zoo, Wimbledon Common, Kew Gardens and other far flung reaches of the network. These were printed in colour using lithography at a time when life for most Londoners was very much monochrome. And it was not just London Transport. The railway companies produced posters that remain instantly recognisable. Airlines like BEA and BOAC showed a glimpse of glamorous life in other countries. Pop songs like “I’m Mandy Fly Me” (a favourite of Sir Terry Wogan) celebrated the printed poster. Few will be able tor recall video screen messages about the excitement of travel. Instead of the printed poster exhorting us to Let the train take the strain, we have a dodgy video featuring Grant Shapps.
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