BULLET TRAIN GETS PURR-FECT LOGO: NIDIAN’S CHEETAH
Monday, October 30, 2017 IST
Ina proud moment for students of National Institute of Design (NID), India’s high-speed bullet train project will bear the imprint of NIDian talent. The ‘cheetah’ designed by Chakradhar Alla, 27, a second year postgraduate student of graphic design, has been picked as the logo for the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRC) that is executing the bullet train operations.
A three-member screening committee headed by renowned painter and architect Satish Gujral had chosen Alla’s design for the project. It was among the 100 entries received by the committee which ran a contest from April 18 to May 19 this year. Explaining his design, Alla said, “The logo resembles that of the front design of the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train. The form mimics the shape of a train, its movement and aerodynamics. The lines connecting the dots represent the connectivity it provides to the towns.”
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He thought of the cheetah as it best symbolises high speed; the second part of the design, the dots, is to show that the train also caters to short distance travelers at various stops. Three colours have been used in the logo – grey, red and blue. “Blue is soothing and symbolises an emotion of trust; red signifies action, speed and energy while grey is used to show technical expertise in the ambitious project. The colours to show safety, speed and comfort respectively.”
Alla, who belongs to Hyderabad, has participated in over 25 logo design competitions but this is for the first time that his design has been chosen for a government project. While the results were out in June, it was made official only recently. NHSRC is a joint venture of Government of India and various state governments responsible for implementation of the high speed rail projects. The train, which has a capacity to accommodate 750 people will reduce travel time between the Ahmedabad and Mumbai from eight hours to two hours.
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