I have designed or branded countless objects and things, but the beauty of a job in the field of design is that you know your latest ‘first time’ is just around the corner. In this case, the first time (probably only time!) I have designed a ‘livery’ for an electrical sub-station!

These usually mundane and quite bleak looking structures surround us, often blending into the background while helping to power our homes and offices. On this occasion the sub-station in question needed to be celebrated and championed because this isn’t just any sub-station, it is the powering heart of the UK’s first Low Emission Bus Town.

8 fully electric Volvo buses are gliding around Harrogate right now, silently, smoothly and producing zero emissions. The technology at the bus station allows them to charge via an overhead gantry, therefore the operator wanted to highlight to waiting passengers the good being done by the innocuous box sat in the corner.

The bland anonymous sub-station when first installed (right)

Firstly a detailed scale drawing was produced using measurements taken on-site, this enabled me to plan my design around the various grills, shut lines and legal notices. Once complete this gave me the ideal canvas to work on while ensuring accuracy when it came to the fitment phase. The Harrogate Electrics had already been given a superb eye-catching identity by renowned public transport design experts Best Impressions, so I would use the elements created from this to build the design.

The final artwork ready to be printed and applied by S2 Graphics

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