Bangalore Public Transport Branding. Designing for the buzz.
ABIDE, the visionary group advised Bangalore’s bus corporation (the BMTC) to get in touch with Dig as a part of its various efforts to keep up with the dynamics of the city's accelerated growth. Dig was part of the team, steered by Dr. Ashwin Mahesh (IIMA/ Mapunity), that planned and implemented the direction-based routing system as vision next for the BMTC. The big design challenge for Dig was to get fast traction for the new system - the new looks/ planning/ service of these buses became the tools to counter the public inertia. Branding by Dig catapulted the BMTC image; these buses became the new improved face of the BMTC.
The new buses+route systems are designed for maximum impact, and mirrors the growing confidence of the Bangalore metro - the proposed system is spot on in its direction-based approach for a radially expanding Bangalore, as opposed to the earlier location A to B routing.
The Design Mantra from Dig was 'Strong Imprint'. Dig focused on creating differentiators at specific areas of the bus body that made it distinguishable from any angle, over traffic and at a distance. Dig worked at making the bus easy to explain in conversations with friends and family. “ Oh, that green bus with stripes… the one with all the arrows?...”. Dig team kept in mind easy execution by the painting depot.
Why does public transport have to look vanilla? Urban folk are seeing more opulence and growing aspiration around; the BMTC needed an urgent elevation in perception. Dig's plan was to use the bold branding to encourage the transition by folks to leave their cars behind and use the new and upgraded bus fleet.
Dig's approach for the logos was driven by the idea of Inclusion. Bangalore is cosmopolitan, welcoming folks from around India and the world; and its dna of inclusive-ness was carried to the logos. Dig designed the Big10 logo to read in both Kannada and English. This added to the buzz at launch. The Kendra Saarige logo has its phenomes linked by color. The public appreciated the significant statement these logos made as a reflection of open arms and mind.
