“Tracks & Trains”

Sometimes a serious message needs a fun approach and this was the case with one of my recent projects.

The core aim of my client, 6VT Community Rail Partnership – the first ever Youth Community Rail Partnership (CRP) in the UK – is to promote rail safety.

They came to me with the idea of re-imagining a traditional snakes and ladders game, to highlight dos and don’ts on the railways.

The first stage in the design process was to commission illustrator, Glen McBeth. Glen’s quirky, characterful style very much suited our young audience.

The next challenge was production. A full-scale commercial board game production was beyond the scope of our  budget. A bit of creative thinking was required: could the boards be folded, rolled, bagged, boxed? I researched lots of different possibilities and (bonus for me) learned about some new products along the way e.g. YUPO Blue an Antalis not paper, paper! The solution we settled on was one where the youth group themselves could be involved: labelling boxes, adding the printed inserts, etc.

Playing the game starts real life conversations and the “Tacks & Trains” branding puts the “Stay off the tracks” message up front.

Having the packaged games in their hands means the older ones in the CRP are equipped and feel confident taking the rail safety message out to younger audiences.