In 1971 Renfe who monopolised rail transport in Spain, launched the foundations for a plan of action to position the train as an essential and unifying element in the country’s transport development.
Renfe and its GID (cabinet of information and diffusion) hired the advertising agency Arce & Potti and together they created the appropriate communication strategies and undertook the necessary actions to provide Renfe with a new corporate identity, presenting its services and improving the public opinion of the train and company at the time.
Juan Toribio worked as creative art director and designer in Arce & Potti participating in the development of these projects. He designed the Renfe corporate image, created numerous advertising campaigns and many diverse elements during six years.
The graphic identity was based on a circle with two intersecting arrows to suggest “a dynamic feeling of movement and multiple directions. The wheel as a basic support and the pathways converted into two parallel and opposing arrows (outbound and return) fused into a single image to convey the strength and dynamism of the functionality of the train” as explained by the designer himself. The chromatic game Toribio established was initially resolved with a combination of blue and yellow, simple, attractive and direct.
Also Renfe GID and Arce & Potti developed institutional and product campaigns (Auto Expreso, Literas, Teco, Paquexprés, etc.), these allowed an update of the Renfe communication and a proximity to the public by developing messages that were powerful and expressive.
In 1974 the Renfe campaign in newspapers and magazines won the Premio Nacional de Publicidad (National Advertising Award).