Usually when I comment on design which I have found interesting it has more to do with t-shirt and digital design.
However this time around I was Force Choked into submission by a very creative marketing campaign on Tokyo’s well know ‘design train’.

Imagine entire carriages decked top to tail with really clever Starwars marketing paraphernalia. It’s a dream come true for any Starwars fan!

Well, truth be told, the Tokyo Design Train has been around for quite a few years now. Japan Railways actually designated specific train carriages, which could be used by companies in order to market various products, back in 1990.

You are probably wondering what the whole hoo-ha is about…I mean haven’t people all over the world being doing this for ages. Heck even the crumby South African trains have advertising inside them. However, you cannot compare other train systems to the crazy awesomeness which is the Japan Railways Design Train!

The wrapping of handrails and other structures is a relatively more recent addition by Japan Railways, which started in 2001. This takes the aesthetic possibilities to all new heights and really serves to immerse lucky passengers to a full-on design experience. It must have been so much fun using giant Lightsabres as hand rails. Fans must have had so much fun. I can imagine all the hilarious pics circulating online at the moment!

I just wish they had made the platform staff dress-up in Storm Trooper gear. That would have been absolutely wicked!

This must have been an amazingly fun project to work on and I truly wish I could have seen it with my own eyes. Alas, the Starwars Lightsabre campaign concluded on the 30^th September.

Don’t think that just any company can take advantage of this amazing marketing avenue. It’s hardcore expensive! Try $60 000 (4.7 million Yen) for a brief half-month contract. Seriously, this is the kind of money that only the select can muster.
This isn’t even counting the busier train lines, which cost as much as 15 million Yen for the same amount of time…BAM!
Shooo, that amount would have even put a dent in the construction costs of the Death Star itself!

The Force is strong with this one.