Yellow bus on a winding suburban street, with houses and greenery on a sunny day.

Trentbarton

Every journey an adventure

Asked to artwork a minor side-project for Trentbarton using existing assets, I delivered a first version that satisfied the brief but not the client. Rather than refining what wasn’t working, I proposed starting again with a different idea entirely: an illustrated visual world built around the idea that every journey is an adventure — warmer, more characterful, and better suited to a regional bus company trying to build genuine affection with its passengers.

The client agreed, and what began as a small artworking job became a full company rebrand that I led from concept through to application across the entire business. It has been Trentbarton’s visual identity for over a decade.

Project involved

— Brand & campaign strategy

— Design of vehicle livery, interior branding
and copywriting

— Illustration

— Design assets for internal rollout of the brand across digital & print

Livery & interior branding

Colorful brochure or poster with the words 'rapid retail' and a computer graphic, featuring a digital clock and text about making something new.

A blue Rapid One bus parked on a grassy area with trees and a wooden shelter in the background.

Interior of a bus with seats, a blue wall featuring cartoon graphics, and a sign for Trenton.

I started it all by visualising “Trentbarton land” – how the client referred to the places you can go to on their buses – and so one by one each of their routes has inspired an illustrated landscape, populated by the Bods, little characters made of the coloured circles from their Robin Hood-inspired bow & arrow logo.

Advertisement on a bus ceiling promoting free WiFi and rapid recharge with on-board USB power sockets, featuring an illustration of a smartphone and text about plug and play functionality.

Trentbarton is a bus company that has been known to give out gin & tonics on Friday evenings. Their drivers are the friendliest you’ll ever meet. Every one of their routes is individually branded with clear, concise information to help people confidently find their way.

A colorful illustrated map of Trentbarton Land with green background, featuring cartoon characters, vehicles, sports balls, trees, and shops, welcoming visitors.

Green electric bus with 'Greens' branding, parked on the side of a road surrounded by trees, displaying a route to Redditch and Chelmsford Bingham.

Nothing in the bus industry looked anything like this when I started working for Trentbarton, more than a decade ago. Other bus companies have already started to copy them, sometimes with almost identical endeavours. There aren't many bus companies loved by their customers (this is based on them talking to their customers rather than me speculating!), nor are there many proud bus drivers who happen to have voluntarily colour-coded their sunglasses to match their bus on the random day the designer turns up to take photos...

Green electric bus with a digital display showing route information, parked on a city street with pedestrians visible through its windows. The bus promotes environmentally friendly transportation with messages about cleaning buses and free WiFi.

A man wearing a white shirt, black tie, and bright green sunglasses sitting on a bus, with a green bus stop or sign visible through the window behind him.

Map of Nottingham city center showing train routes and stations, with cartoon characters and icons representing locations and transportation.

Green advertisement banner promoting Trentbarton's 'Live' service, showing a pink character with a smartphone, a purple character with a laptop, a bus icon, and Wi-Fi symbol. It mentions the next bus arriving in 5 minutes and provides a website link for various devices.

Green-themed promotional graphic for a bar or nightlife event, featuring illustrations of bottles and glasses, cartoon characters, and text about staying out late and free WiFi.

Interior branding

Colorful cartoon scene of a toy town with a bus, water park, and various playful characters like ducks, monsters, and aliens engaging in water fights and relaxing around a pool. The scene includes a large building with a red and white striped wall, a sign reading 'Trentbarton Land,' and a big star with 'The Big Bus Battle' at the top.

Student Freshers’ Week campaign

Print materials

Tri-fold brochure with bus timetable information, colorful graphics, and promotional messages about bus departures and a mango product.

Transportation map pamphlet detailing bus routes and schedules for Derby, Belper, Ripley, Wirksworth, Matlock, and Bakewell in England.

A map showing bus routes in Hucknall, England, with green and blue routes, landmarks like leisure center, Tesco, pharmacies, and parks, along with a timetable for bus departure times.

A woman in a yellow uniform, sitting in the driver's seat of a bus, smiling and holding the steering wheel.

Animated orange character holding a ring, standing in front of a window with a city view, with text 'Fifty Shades of Orange' and a subtitle 'Mr Bod will see you now'.

Cartoon illustration of three musketeers with green bodies, wearing black hats with feathers, holding swords, and standing against an orange background, with the title "The Three Musketeers" above them.

A digital screen displaying a presentation titled 'Three Colours Orange' with an orange background and cartoon orange character, connected to a device by a yellow wire.

Promoting free WiFi and device charging on ‘The Threes’ routes

Illustration of a sunny landscape with rolling hills, trees, and clouds. There are cable cars in the background, a character with a camera in the foreground, sunglasses, and a small bird. The text 'little sixes' is centered at the top.

Some customer feedback…

Screenshot of an email on a computer screen, addressed to a managing director, discussing a humorous incident involving misnamed vehicle passenger and a funny comment about cherry tarts, ending with the sender's name Julian and a misspelled name Masie.

A yellow public bus parked at a station, with route number V2 and advertisements on the side promoting Derby and Burton, with a cartoon character and colorful circles.

…and client feedback

From: Alex Hornby
Date: Friday, 9 June 2017 at 10:31

To: James Hall
Subject: Thank you - and good luck

Hi James

I just wanted to wish you the very best of luck as you leave Best Impressions and move on to new adventures!

You are an inspiring source of creativity and I know our work will be the poorer without your influence and design work. You should be so proud – I know we are!

It’s been a real pleasure seeing you turn (and enhance) our ideas to an exciting reality, often beating my expectations – both at Transdev and at trentbarton. I remember the day we spent on rainbow one in Nottingham, where it was so good watching you seeing your designs out there and in the field!

Thanks for all you’ve done for our companies and me.

All the very best in the future,

Alex – and all of us at Transdev Blazefield

Alex Hornby
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
TRANSDEV BLAZEFIELD

An e-mail from the former Marketing Manager of Trentbarton, subsequently CEO of Transdev UK