4 ms·

Bell System Vehicle Graphics Manual (1973)

69 points by wallflower 4y ago

qgin 4y ago
If you love graphics manuals, this indie publishing house reprints classic manuals: https://standardsmanual.com/pages/titles https://standardsmanual.com/pages/titles
TMWNN 4y ago
I read a proposal by an ad agency, from a few years before this, for a makeover of AT&T's corporate look (it might have been this publication's direct ancestor). It included uniforms, vehicles, building logos, etc. I found amusing how the agency used a fictional regional Bell company as the example; I suppose there were so many that it made no sense to make one seem "preeminent" over others.
- mixdup 4y ago
  > I suppose there were so many that it made no sense to make one seem "preeminent" over others. Also, a good way to prevent leaks, even if inadvertent. Vendors working on something for "Alpha Bell" have no idea what it is. Granted, leaks in the 1960s weren't what they are today Also, there was a video version of the pitch you referred to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKu2de0yCJI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKu2de0yCJI This design system was designed by Saul Bass
  - TMWNN 4y ago
    Yes, that's what I was thinking of; not something in print. Thank you for recognizing what I imperfectly described.
boboroshi 4y ago
These really are the precursor to design systems of today. It's not just a brand guideline, but it's an implementation guide to be used across various platforms (Dodge, GM, Ram, etc) to create a unified visual experience.
LeonM 4y ago
Interestingly enough: on Page 27 the title is 'Chevy and GMC', on all following pages (and the index page) it's 'Chevrolet and GMC'. Looks like someone accidentally used some slang, and nobody caught it. I guess 'chevy' is so common in the US that nobody noticed.
- adrianmonk 4y ago
  Not sure if it's related, but this being 1973, the song "American Pie" ("drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry") had just hit #1 on the charts not long before. "the single was the number-one US hit for four weeks in 1972 starting January 15" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Pie_%28song%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Pie_%28song%29)
- tuyiown 4y ago
  English is not my first language and I never lived in the us. Chevy is very pervasive and also rarely used mixed with Chevrolet. It's also mostly used for more common cars, whereas corvette is very known, at least internationally as chevrolet corvette, and never chevy corvette. So it seems that not only using Chevy is very common, but it's so ingrained that people seemed to never mention Chevrolet is the same context for me. At some point, I remember thinking that that weird I've never heard of must be a surname to an existing brand, like Chevrolet, and having done a quick check, but I didn't realized it must not have been that conclusive at that time, and I never clarified the situation in my head before reading your comment.
- jccooper 4y ago
  I don't think it ever appears on the nameplate or badges, but it's in common use as a synonym, even by the company.
lordleft 4y ago
I work at AT&T Labs and I always get a charge out of seeing that iconic logo. I'm a bit of geek about AT&T history and often annoy my friends by pointing out the Bell symbol on manhole covers, which can be found almost anywhere in the US (and also Canada through Bell Canada).
- IIAOPSW 4y ago
  I get it. These companies of the past, they were titans of industry. They left their ruins behind everywhere like a lost civilization. An Ozymandias statue a thousand fold. Among the dead in Mt Zion Cemetery is the body of a colossus. A thing so profoundly bigger than you that you don't even realize you are standing on it. But, if you look down from above at the cemetery you'll see it. A peculiar row of headstones that cuts across in a thin row diagonal to all the other headstones. This thin strip of oddly facing plots were dug exactly along the space where railroad tracks used to cut through the cemetery. RIP NY & Flushing RR, you were bigger than us all.
- rsync 4y ago
  "I'm a bit of geek about AT&T history and often annoy my friends by pointing out the Bell symbol ..." https://twitter.com/rsyncnet/status/1435981763864584201 https://twitter.com/rsyncnet/status/1435981763864584201 ... just scroll down ...
- joezydeco 4y ago
  Then I'm sure you've seen Saul Bass' original proposal for the logo redesign. It's a 30 minute movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKu2de0yCJI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKu2de0yCJI And this is the same Saul Bass that designed other iconic logos (he name drops a bunch at 7m30s) and well as doing credit sequences for directors like Hitchcock and Scorcese: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Bass https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Bass
nickt 4y ago
Very much reminiscent of the British Rail Corporate Identity Manual, which includes such details as train crew uniforms and even clock faces. http://www.doublearrow.co.uk/manual.htm http://www.doublearrow.co.uk/manual.htm
jeffrallen 4y ago
See also Telstar Logistics: https://telstarlogistics.typepad.com/telstarlogistics/2006/09/what_is_telstar.html https://telstarlogistics.typepad.com/telstarlogistics/2006/0...
Aloha 4y ago
What's interesting is - he basic body silhouettes of the Ford Econoline (75 on), Dodge B series van (71 on - with a minor redesign in 79), and Chevrolet/GMC Van were largely unchanged from this publication to their discontinuance.

69 points by wallflower 4y ago

qgin 4y ago

If you love graphics manuals, this indie publishing house reprints classic manuals: https://standardsmanual.com/pages/titles https://standardsmanual.com/pages/titles

TMWNN 4y ago

I read a proposal by an ad agency, from a few years before this, for a makeover of AT&T's corporate look (it might have been this publication's direct ancestor). It included uniforms, vehicles, building logos, etc. I found amusing how the agency used a fictional regional Bell company as the example; I suppose there were so many that it made no sense to make one seem "preeminent" over others.

mixdup 4y ago
> I suppose there were so many that it made no sense to make one seem "preeminent" over others. Also, a good way to prevent leaks, even if inadvertent. Vendors working on something for "Alpha Bell" have no idea what it is. Granted, leaks in the 1960s weren't what they are today Also, there was a video version of the pitch you referred to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKu2de0yCJI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKu2de0yCJI This design system was designed by Saul Bass
- TMWNN 4y ago
  Yes, that's what I was thinking of; not something in print. Thank you for recognizing what I imperfectly described.

boboroshi 4y ago

These really are the precursor to design systems of today. It's not just a brand guideline, but it's an implementation guide to be used across various platforms (Dodge, GM, Ram, etc) to create a unified visual experience.

LeonM 4y ago

Interestingly enough: on Page 27 the title is 'Chevy and GMC', on all following pages (and the index page) it's 'Chevrolet and GMC'. Looks like someone accidentally used some slang, and nobody caught it. I guess 'chevy' is so common in the US that nobody noticed.

adrianmonk 4y ago
Not sure if it's related, but this being 1973, the song "American Pie" ("drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry") had just hit #1 on the charts not long before. "the single was the number-one US hit for four weeks in 1972 starting January 15" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Pie_%28song%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Pie_%28song%29)
tuyiown 4y ago
English is not my first language and I never lived in the us. Chevy is very pervasive and also rarely used mixed with Chevrolet. It's also mostly used for more common cars, whereas corvette is very known, at least internationally as chevrolet corvette, and never chevy corvette. So it seems that not only using Chevy is very common, but it's so ingrained that people seemed to never mention Chevrolet is the same context for me. At some point, I remember thinking that that weird I've never heard of must be a surname to an existing brand, like Chevrolet, and having done a quick check, but I didn't realized it must not have been that conclusive at that time, and I never clarified the situation in my head before reading your comment.
jccooper 4y ago
I don't think it ever appears on the nameplate or badges, but it's in common use as a synonym, even by the company.

lordleft 4y ago

I work at AT&T Labs and I always get a charge out of seeing that iconic logo. I'm a bit of geek about AT&T history and often annoy my friends by pointing out the Bell symbol on manhole covers, which can be found almost anywhere in the US (and also Canada through Bell Canada).

IIAOPSW 4y ago
I get it. These companies of the past, they were titans of industry. They left their ruins behind everywhere like a lost civilization. An Ozymandias statue a thousand fold. Among the dead in Mt Zion Cemetery is the body of a colossus. A thing so profoundly bigger than you that you don't even realize you are standing on it. But, if you look down from above at the cemetery you'll see it. A peculiar row of headstones that cuts across in a thin row diagonal to all the other headstones. This thin strip of oddly facing plots were dug exactly along the space where railroad tracks used to cut through the cemetery. RIP NY & Flushing RR, you were bigger than us all.
rsync 4y ago
"I'm a bit of geek about AT&T history and often annoy my friends by pointing out the Bell symbol ..." https://twitter.com/rsyncnet/status/1435981763864584201 https://twitter.com/rsyncnet/status/1435981763864584201 ... just scroll down ...
joezydeco 4y ago
Then I'm sure you've seen Saul Bass' original proposal for the logo redesign. It's a 30 minute movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKu2de0yCJI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKu2de0yCJI And this is the same Saul Bass that designed other iconic logos (he name drops a bunch at 7m30s) and well as doing credit sequences for directors like Hitchcock and Scorcese: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Bass https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Bass

nickt 4y ago

Very much reminiscent of the British Rail Corporate Identity Manual, which includes such details as train crew uniforms and even clock faces. http://www.doublearrow.co.uk/manual.htm http://www.doublearrow.co.uk/manual.htm

jeffrallen 4y ago

See also Telstar Logistics: https://telstarlogistics.typepad.com/telstarlogistics/2006/09/what_is_telstar.html https://telstarlogistics.typepad.com/telstarlogistics/2006/0...

Aloha 4y ago

What's interesting is - he basic body silhouettes of the Ford Econoline (75 on), Dodge B series van (71 on - with a minor redesign in 79), and Chevrolet/GMC Van were largely unchanged from this publication to their discontinuance.