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Designing a logo for the Canal & River Trust


For the past year staff at British Waterways have been talking about the move to the New Waterways Charity. However, there’s a limit to how excited anyone can get about a charity with no name and so we’ve been patiently waiting to hear who we’re going to be working for and what our new logo is going to look like.

On 6 October the charity’s new name and logo were revealed to the public and all of a sudden the New Waterways Charity, to be known as the Canal & River Trust, became a tangible organisation.

With the waterways moving to Trust status it’s fitting that John Rushworth, partner at award-winning design agency Pentagram, volunteered his time to help define the name and logo of the new charity. Waterscape caught up with John to find out more about the process.

A great bubble

“I was approached by British Waterways at Christmas and asked if I’d be interested in creating a new brand identity for British Waterways. The current logo, with the bridge and the bulrushes, was the first major project I worked on,” says John. “I have great memories of the project which involved spending a lot of time getting to know Britain’s waterways. We travelled around on narrow boats over the summer months, had a fantastic time and gained a massive insight into why people enjoy canals.

“When I was approached by the company again I was really curious and it was hard not to be interested in the project. With the company’s culture and relationship and the change in status I felt it was an opportunity to show the power of design and how it can bring about change.”

Once again John took to a narrowboat (in addition to meeting our new trustees, attending user group meetings and meeting with staff) to take a look at the canal system 20 years on. “Not much has changed. There’s still the same spirit out there and I tapped in to all of the same emotions. Canals are the antithesis of one’s everyday life. It’s a great bubble to be trapped in.”

Encourage everyone to participate

Following extensive research, both within the company and outside it, the name ‘Canal & River Trust’ was decided upon. “We got to the Canal & River Trust quite quickly. Waterways isn’t in everyday vocabulary and we wanted a name that demonstrated the change to Trust status,” says John. “A name should be something that lasts for a long time.”

Next came the design of the new logo. The new logo has to encourage everyone to participate in the care of the network. It mustn’t alienate groups of people and has to show the personality of the new charity.

John explains: “We looked around at iconic symbols and decided the logo had to feature something natural as well as man-made. Images from nature get a far more emotional response. We quickly got to water birds and then to swans. The swan is probably the most iconic bird in Britain and it’s what you see, and more importantly notice, when you visit the canal. The swan also encompasses many of the traits the Canal & River Trust will need to possess. It’s nurturing yet protective and ready to defend its territory.”

So far the new logo featuring the swan and bridge has been well received, although the question of why there’s no narrow boat in the logo has been raised. John explains: “One of the reasons we didn’t include boats in the new logo is that the classic narrow boat is only iconic on canals, not rivers. Boats on rivers are more commonly in the cruiser category. A narrowboat is also hard to symbolise unless you use the front of the boat. It’s also important to remember that a logo should symbolise the qualities of an organisation rather than illustrate what it does so that it can mean different things to different people.”

With a new name and logo the Canal & River Trust is getting tantalisingly close to taking over the running of our canals and rivers. If you want to keep up with the latest news about the new charity, sign up to receive the latest information at www.waterscape.com/findoutmore

Last updated: 24/10/2011

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