dg comments

please empty your brain below

I assume TfL’s mobile services can’t be all that important then?

I’m just wondering how much of our fares went towards this rather incompetent design…

Andrewh | 12.03.11 - 9:21 a.m. | #

Must be related to the platform information display installer.....

Gordon | 12.03.11 - 9:24 a.m. | #

An equally valid 2nd hypotheses is that the display is fine - if you work under the assumption that it was designed to have only one rack of leaflets and somebody has added the second higher rack as an afterthought. Note how the text above the first rack is as it should be if only one row of leaflets were attached.

The requirement to show double the number of leaflets was probably made after the design was finalised and LU were too cheap to pay for a complete redesign.

Mike | 12.03.11 - 10:10 a.m. | #

But the racks aren't new, they've had two rows of leaflets for years. All that's new is the background.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 12.03.11 - 10:22 a.m. | #

How about what's going to happen is that TfL are planning to cut costs by having fewer leaflets, and hope that no one will notice because everyone will be entranced by the information?

Veronica | 12.03.11 - 11:18 a.m. | #

I came here to say what Mike said, until I read DG's reply...

Joho | 12.03.11 - 11:25 a.m. | #

btw if you like this sort of incompetence I highly recommend the film Idiocracy, it'll make you laugh - and weep...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Idiocracy-DVD-Luke-Wilson/dp/B000N3T2CQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1299929210&sr=8-1
and of course Office Space if you haven't seen that.

Joho | 12.03.11 - 11:27 a.m. | #

Just print smaller sized posters, that start to give information just above the leaflets upper edge.

Steve Barker | Homepage | 12.03.11 - 12:06 p.m. | #

I'm pretty sure the designer had a different brief, one where the top row of racks doesn't appear. I really can't imagine a designer being so stupid - but who on Earth may have briefed him? TfL? They really should know better. Anyway, this is just ridiculous.

The Cartoonist | Homepage | 12.03.11 - 3:28 p.m. | #

The "Mobile services" panel is normally obscured by tube maps.

Next to it is a fourth panel, "Travel alerts", which has been invisible in every single tube station I've visited.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 12.03.11 - 5:28 p.m. | #

Maybe they're only supposed to be visible when a) the leaflets aren't present?

Can't explain the idiocy of b) the racks, though.

annoyed | 12.03.11 - 11:44 p.m. | #

hi, i think annoyed's suggestion is correct. They are meant to inform people how to get the information if the relevant leaflets have all been taken.

anthony wong | Homepage | 13.03.11 - 9:22 a.m. | #

No no no, the leaflets are mostly tedious generic stuff, usually of no immediate use. Whereas the background panels are all about how to get up-to-date information about how tube services are running now.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 13.03.11 - 9:46 a.m. | #

Perhaps an example of TfL 'rack a tiering' again?

Tony | 13.03.11 - 10:36 a.m. | #

Ah, but the frames have always posters in the background. See this pic or p30 of this PDF for examples. (It's surprisingly hard to find recent pictures of them)

Also, the leaflets are fairly useful to some people - like the Customer Charter leaflet, which contains the refund form.

I agree with you that this particular background has been rather ineptly designed, though. You'd think they'd print out a proof before doing a whole run of them.

martin | Homepage | 13.03.11 - 3:17 p.m. | #

swirlythingy | Homepage | 13.03.11 - 9:57 p.m. | #

It is the same Useless Committee that approved the action of putting direction signs in front of the live arrival boards at various stations.

Designed by cretins, approved by cretins and probably installed by cretins.

No one uses their common sense anymore.

Amused | 14.03.11 - 10:58 a.m. | #

The rack design is reminiscent of neo-lithic spear points. Possibly a stonehenge tie-in? Very odd!

jon | Homepage | 15.03.11 - 1:54 a.m. | #

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