Hey everyone Since I am far too deeply invested in the railfanning hobby, I’ve often gone looking online for some kind of "fan wear." However, almost everything I found was disastrous most of the shirts were either screaming with all one's soul "I am a train-aholic, just please don't talk to me" or giving the vibe of something a dad wears on a random Sunday family barbecue (just take the attachment below as an example). There is certainly nothing I can wear to uni without embarrassing myself. A few days ago, when I was bored, I came up with the idea to design my own. The concept is streetwear with subtle designs that act as a secret handshake for those who know, but look like stylish graphics to everyone else. The designs are rather minimalistic (that’s just who I am), but they’re at least supposed to be instantly recognizable to a railfan. Focus will be on UK, German, and French stuff. So yeah, essentially, what this thread is actually for is your feedback! I’ve already started playing with the design tools, and as soon as I’ve finished some concepts, you will see them in here. Stay tuned After all, what do you think? Does this concept have potential? Would you be interested? Or should I rather start looking for better ways to waste my time. Please, be completely honest.
Soooo I couldn't stop experimenting, and I came up with this design Of course, it's nothing but a draft, I kinda like it though. Thoughts on this? Too minimalistic? Too loud/large? Too cryptic? Too obvious? For those who don't know - it's a black-and-white version of the mechanical French Carré signal, which essentially is the French red signal. I hope all French railfans will recognize it though- Noted but that's great to hear!
Initially, I mistook it for a Polish military aviation designation. ✈️ Definitely great idea! I also find most of the designs not my cup of tea. I always wanted something more subtle.
Oh wow, I just searched it up, and you're right, it looks exactly like the Polish Air Force Roundel - thanks for your honesty though. This is quite funny, this is the second time already this happens; a potential logo design I made in order to study the design program a bit was supposed to look like a rail profile (at least to a railfan), and my family was like "oh that's a wine glass right?" I am not sure whether that really is a weakness, though, since the goal were subtle designs that those who know instantly recognize, and those who don't will take for a cool graphic. And I feel like in this case, the "carré" text could work as a key to get the meaning behind the design - not sure though. Any Frenchmen here? I will continue posting in here as soon as I drafted some more potential designs, but this was already very valuable, so thanks a lot ☺️ And also to everyone else, don't hesitate to share your honest thoughts and critics in here
Carre ones fine, as most of the general public won't know what it is. but I don't want something cringey like a joke about a AC4400 thats suggestive I'd rather be at the end of a platform than socialising like most people. Could act like some sort of human repellent
I literally laughed so hard at the "human repellent" metaphor. Yours is golden feedback to me, so thank you a lot! ☺️ And yeah, you nailed it pretty much. This is the point why Im doing all of this, wearing one of the options currently available online would literally make you wanna disappear in the ground ☠️ I'm just trying to design stuff that is actually socially acceptable unlike what you find when you google "train shirt"
Hey hey everyone, tonight I came up with a second concept, I wonder whether it is actually understandable though. This one's UK-themed. The symbol inside the 'o' of the text is supposed to look like the AWS indicator - nicknamed 'sunflower' - that everyone of you who has ever played a UK route should know pretty well. Since I thought, without any other hint, it might be difficult to get at a first glance, I added that line below that is supposed to be the AWS magnet found between the rails that actually triggers the alarm. Depending on your feedback, I might remove it though - just tell me what you think. I am a little afraid not every railfan (specifically the UK ones since they are targeted in this case) might get it at a first glance, since it probably is a little cryptic - not sure though. If there are any around here, please let me know And I can only highlight again that any feedback would be very, very valuable to me! Don't hesitate to share your thoughts! And again, please be brutally honest Thank you! Happy to hear that! ♥️ -- Edit: I found that it could probably also look cool on a hoodie Aaaaand I made an alternative design with the text in black since I was a bit unhappy with the first concept. Which one do you prefer, though?
I like this one too, again not flashy, discreet but effective, the reference to the AWS immediately comes to mind. Personnaly, I prefer the second one with the text in black.
