Multimark

The Multimark was a logo introduced by Canadian Pacific Railway on July 17, 1968, to identify each of its various operations.[1]

Geometric layout of the Multimark
The Multimark with red background, used for railway operations

The Multimark was created by the international marketing and design firm Lippincott and Margulies. It was composed of a circle representing global activities, a triangle representing motion or direction, and in contrast, a square (sometimes elongated into a rectangle) indicating stability.[1] By the 1990s, the logo was sometimes referred to as the "Pac-Man logo" by railfans for its resemblance to the early video game character.

Industry changes

The Multimark was gradually eliminated in the 1980s as the various components of Canadian Pacific Limited changed names. CP Air became Canadian Pacific Airlines and was later sold off. CP Hotels became Canadian Pacific Hotels and Resorts and much later sold off. CP Express & Transport went out of business due to deregulation. CP Telecommunications was merged into CNCP Telecommunications which soon went out of business due to the changing industry. (Unitel was then created to acquire what remained.) CP Ships became Canadian Pacific Ships and was finally sold off in 2005. CP Rail became known as CP Rail System in January 1991, with the acquisition of the bankrupt American Delaware and Hudson Railway. The marketing name included Soo Line Railroad which had become 100% owned. (CPR had long had controlling interest in it).

The use of the Multimark on CP Rail slowly faded away with no official announcement. September 1987 saw the first diesel to be repainted without it, a GP7 yard engine numbered 1684.

Colours

Each operating division was assigned a different colour while taking on a new identity:

DivisionColourHex triplet[2]
CP RailAction redB71319
CP Transport
CP Express		Blue
CP ShipsGreen
CP TelecommunicationsYellowE6B036
CP AirOrangeEE851E
CP HotelsGray86918B

References
  1. "CP Rail's New Image". Railmodel Magazine. Vol. 1 no. 2. Don Mills, Ontario: Doncath Publishing. April 1970. p. 6.
  2. "Art-Paints.com". Art-Paints.com. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
Spanner July–August 1968 A special edition of the employee magazine dedicated entirely to the corporate changes.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.