Railways and the East Kent Coalfield
This project was my FMP from the first year of my Graphic Design Level 3 course. The brief was extremely open, with us simply being given access to information on the East Kent Coalfield, and the theme 'Past, Present and Future'. Our client was Betteshanger Park and the Kent Mining Museum. While researching for the project, I continually kept coming upon information on the railways in the area, and how the railways, and the coalfield were related, but none of this was in depth, comprehensive, or even came close to explaining just how important it was. This is why I decided upon creating designs based around this.
Tom Eckersley Inspired Poster
This poster is inspired by the designs of Tom Eckersley, with elements of the East Kent Railway, which was specifically built to serve the East Kent Coalfield. Although the Coalfield was never as profitable as the proprietors of the East Kent Railway expected, the success of Tilmanstone Colliery kept the line alive until 1986.
Class 375 digi-Print
This digi-print is based on the front of a Class 375 EMU train. These Class 375's run up and down the Kent Coast, and through the heart of the former East Kent Coalfield to London. They are the future of the East Kent Coalfield, running on lines that once carried coal to London from collieries such as Betteshanger.
Class 374 digi-Print
This digi-print is based on the front of a Class 374 EMU train. These trains are also known as the Class e300 Eurostar units, that run through the heart of Kent, under the English Channel through the Channel Tunnel and on to the continent. Coal was first found in Kent during digging for the first attempt at a Channel Tunnel in 1890, and many miners went to work on the final Channel Tunnel once the collieries closed.
Class 47 Digi-print and livery design
The BR Class 47 is one of the cargo locomotives that would run to collieries in the East Kent Coalfield such as Betteshanger. While in actual operation, they would frequently carry the BR Blue livery, and later Railfrieght liveries. However, for my project, I designed my own National Coal Board based livery, and then expanded this to create a large digi-print.
Class 395 Livery Design
The Class 395 (also known as the Javelin) is the high-speed domestic trains that run up and down through Kent and to London. They run on the main HS1 line built to serve the Channel Tunnel, as well as on the standard lines, including through the heart of the former East Kent Coalfield. Coal was first found in Kent during digging for the first attempt at a Channel Tunnel in 1890, and many miners went to work on the final Channel Tunnel once the collieries closed. This is why the year 1890 has been included in this design. This design was my last final outcome, and satisfies the past and present parts of the theme, with elements of the old East Kent Coalfield on a current train. As can be seen above, I created two designs for this final outcome, one more uniform, and one more abstractionist.Â