Hand Sign-Written Carriage Livery and Signage for Platform, West Bay

Platform is a restaurant, cocktail bar and wedding venue built into two restored Victorian railway carriages and the original West Bay station building. The unique setting does much of the heavy lifting in establishing the business, but that only pays off if the branding matches the quality of the restoration.

The identity needed to carry across a varied site: two carriages, a stone station building now serving as the bar, and the approach from the car park and coast path, all without looking like a modern sign on a historic structure.

The challenge

The painted steel coach surfaces are curved, riveted, and uneven in a way flat vinyl doesn't sit well against, and a venue trading on its railway heritage needed a finish that read as part of the restoration.

The identity also had to flex across formats: full wordmark lettering along the flat carriage sides, a compact circular version for projecting and post-mounted signage, and a version that could sit on the station building's aged stone without looking like a recent addition. For a wedding and events venue, where guests photograph the setting as much as they use it, that consistency is key.

The solution

Creative Solutions hand-applied the Platform wordmark directly onto the carriage bodywork, masking and painting each letter in place rather than applying printed lettering. Working straight onto the coachwork let the lettering follow the curve and condition of each carriage, so the finish remained in keeping with a restored vintage vehicle.

The same "Platform / Est 2015" mark was also produced as a series of circular projecting signs, mounted to the stone station building, to a carriage end, and under the platform canopy, along with a freestanding post-mounted sign sited in the garden for guests approaching from the car park.

What we delivered

• Hand-written wordmark lettering across both carriage bodies

• Circular projecting signage for the station building and carriage ends

• A freestanding post-mounted sign for the approach from the car park

• Production and installation across the full site

The outcome

Platform now carries one identity across a site that mixes riveted carriage steel, century-old stone and open platform space, matching the standard of a venue with 2 AA Rosettes and multiple regional awards to its name. Guests get the same clear mark whether they're arriving across the car park, walking the platform for wedding photos, or approaching from the coast path.

Services used

Hand sign-writing, projecting signage, post-mounted signage, production and installation.

Signage for a Heritage Site or Hospitality Venue?

Creative Solutions works on surfaces that don't behave like a standard shopfront – vintage vehicles, listed buildings, curved and reclaimed structures – producing signage that fits the setting rather than sitting on top of it.

Talk to us about your signage project