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Deutsche Bahn AG · Corporate Design · CD at a Glance, CD Checklist · Revision: 15.06.2016

Contents

Corporate Identity—Corporate Design:breathing life into concepts

What can successful management of CI/CDproduce?

Typical Deutsche Bahn: The appearance ofDB at a glance

The most important characteristics of the DBappearance:

DB brand

Corporate colors

Color systematics

Corporate font DB Type

DB Corner Element

Horizontal emphasis of space distribution

CD checklists

Every day we see, hear or otherwise experience countless impressions,messages and information in general. Much of it we fail to notice orimmediately forget. Other information that we need to keep our bearings issaved. Being perceptible and ‘stored permanently’ is essential for acompany’s business success. Therefore, how one is noticed, both publicly andin private, can not be left to chance. For this reason, the Board has createdthe DB Group Marketing Directive, which sets binding rules for all divisions:"The provisions and requirements listed there are to be observed whenimplementing internal and external marketing measures".

Who are we?Who do we want to be?How are we seen?How do we want to be seen?How would others like to see us?

To an extent, the effect that a company tries to achievecan be influenced: through the self-perception—orcorporate identity—that the company has defined foritself; and the company’s communications and the imageit projects—or corporate design.

Applied to people, corporate identity would describe anindividual’s essence or character. At our company, too,corporate identity encompasses all characteristics that makeDB unique. These include all the deeds, signs and statementsby which we are measured and that make personalidentification—e.g. by our customers or employees—with thecompany possible. Corporate design, meanwhile, is a meansto an end. It translates corporate identity into a visualimage. While it does not provide answers to questions ofstrategic importance for the company, corporate design givesthose answers a certain appearance.

A design determined by personal preferences in taste has aneffect on the person who created it, but not on the manywhom it is supposed to reach. Our corporate design has thetask of visibly making every expression of our company partof a unified whole. It is the systematic design of allindividual elements—from advertising to seat covers, fromsigns in buildings to letters to customer.



A consistent appearance requires constant and recurringelements. At DB, the logo, colors, the corporate font and afew basic design principles form the foundation of ourunified appearance.

Our corporate design establishes space so that we can reactto changes in corporate identity, structure and new marketdemands without diluting our characteristic look. Corporatedesign at DB lays the groundwork for the process of creativedesign, safeguards recognition of our company and, bymaintaining its familiar characteristics, supports positiverecognition by various target groups.

Constantly examining the complex yet coherent interplay of ‘being andpresence,’ i.e. of identity, communication and appearance, is part of seniormanagement’s job of steering the CI process.

Do the company’s communications, itsvisual presence, the conduct ofmanagers and workers and thecompany’s offerings all fit together?

Does our company’s performance(products, offers, services) meet therequirements of customers andworkers?

Does the conduct of managers andworkers fit the company’s ideals, goalsand services?



We leave an impressionJust as in personal relationships, the initial contact decides how a company isjudged. This contact often takes place through letters, publications, advertising oronline—in other words, primarily through visual information. This is wherecorporate design does an important job, because the appearance of our companystrongly influences how it is ‘seen’ among the relevant target groups.

We take a positionComing to grips with one’s own corporate identity and moving those taking part inthe company to make a common commitment to it is a complex process and oneof the foremost tasks of senior management. This commitment must constantly berenewed. Corporate identity and corporate design are therefore open toadjustment to tested requirements such as evolving emphases in internal andexternal communications, or a new market framework.

We magnify familiarity and recognitionWithout recognition, without the possibility of classification, people feel lost.Those who are lost have no security, no trust. Through brand management, ourcorporate design lays the foundation for recognition.

We build credibilityAn authentic presence improves the quality of information, thereby buildingcredibility among customers, workers, in the domestic public and on internationalmarkets.

Last but not least: We save moneyA logical corporate design eases the coordination process among companies,agencies and other suppliers. And that saves plenty of time, energy… andtherefore money.



published: 12.04.2011


Deutsche Bahn AG · Corporate Design · CD at a Glance, CD Checklist · Revision: 15.06.2016 Page 1

What are the most important design elements that characterize theCorporate Design of Deutsche Bahn?The Short Profile provides a selection of the most important factors of theappearance of DB. It is intended mainly for beginners and the uninitiatedwho want to learn about Corporate Design at Deutsche Bahn.

The CD checklists Electronic Media and Print Media help check forCD conformity in practice.



The most important characteristics of the DB appearance:

DB brand

Our DB brand is the company’s most important and recognizable identity symbol.As a standard element of every brand in the Group, it appears globally in allcommunications.

Logos and Markings

Corporate colors

The corporate colors are the most universal element in the appearance of DB.The identity color of DB is DB Red. It also marks the Passenger Transport and RailFreight Transport Division. DB Blue stands for the Land Transport, Air and OceanFreight and Contract Logistics Division. DB Gray stands for the Communication ofthe DB Group, Infrastructure and Services Division. Additionally, the design mayinclude three additional gray shades, as well as black, white and silver.A supplementary series of bright secondary colors is used only when the need fora color differentiation exists beyond the primary colors.

Color



Color systematics

Color codes have been defined for the Divisions and Business Units. Thisidentification is reflected most clearly in the designs for railroad vehicles: White(and/or light gray) with a red stripe for long distance transport red with white(light gray) stripe for regional transport.

From these systematics we derive the color code of ourcommunication media for Passenger Transport andalso Rail Freight Transport (see left), shown here withbrochure titles as examples.

Colors have also been determined for or all other divisions,e.g. the DB Blue derived from the company’s history forLand Transport, Air and Ocean Freight and ContractLogistics, and DB Gray for Infrastructure, Communication ofthe DB Group and Services.



Corporate font DB Type

DB Type has been the entire Group’s exclusive font since 2005 and is usedexclusively in the media of DB. It consists of eight font families that constitute avisually cohesive system. Each font family within this system has been created forspecific purposes according to the applicable requirements. Typeface



The typographical appearance of our communication mediais characterized by a special treatment of headlines, whoseindividual lines are horizontally offset to each other and areaccentuated by bold-light contrast. A center-alignedimpression should be avoided. The preferred type for bodycopy is left-aligned unjustified text. Typography is alwaysmixed, i.e. using capital and lower case letters.

DB Corner Element

A visual constant of our identity is the DB Corner Element. It serves to structureand separate text and plane elements. Height and width of the corner element arespecified. Its characteristic proportions and deliberately asymmetrical placingcharacterize the appearance of our communications media.



Horizontal emphasis of space distribution

Each of our communication media is characterized by an essential design principle– the emphasized horizontal look, derived from the horizontal movement of ourmeans of transport. Resulting from this design principle are e.g. the horizontalrelations in arranging planes and images, the use of horizontal overlines andstructuring lines, as well as the explicit avoidance of vertical dividing lines andborders.

CD checklistsThe here for download offered CD checklists ease the work and allowverification of the important guidelines in a clear manner.

Download: CD ChecklistsFile format: ZIPFile size: 758 kB

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published: 24.05.2011

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