I think that is exactly the point Joe is trying to make. It's not just about the magazine, it's for Model Railroading and the Hobbyist

MRHMag.com is all that is really needed.

It conveys the name (MRH) , what it is (Mag) and the website address.

The Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine name is deliberately engineered with careful fonts and colors to convey a meaning.

I'm saddened that folks think we just slapped something together.

I'm on the road at the National NG convention in Pasadena and I'm posting this with my iPhone. Once I get some time I will spell out the design elements and also talk a out our mrhmag.com companion logo with the steam loco.

See, the companion logo makes sense.  And so too does the magazine name, it's nice and formal, proper upon the front cover.

But you don't wear your Best Sunday Dinner Jacket when you go hunting for snipe... 

And that's the point of the logo, it's something that is quick and catches the eye, if nothing more than leaving behind a subtle memory.  It can be conveyed quickly, without a lot of explanation.  And it translates well into multiple mediums...

I personally think the name and companion logo translate well in the digital medium, but they may be less than effective in the physical medium or as a logo upon a shirt.  It's not a bad thing, it's just a new/different consideration that wasn't considered before.

My, the bag of cats this discussion has opened!! :P

Benny and Dave... You are both right and both wrong at the same time. A definition of terms is in order here.

Logo - symbol associated with a brand or product
Strap line - Text used to identify brand or product, often used in conjunction with logo
Tag line - Text used in conjunction with logo and/or strap line to denote a specific campaign or event

Logo:

Logo with strap line:

Logo with strap and tag line:

MRH has a strap line - Model Railroad Hobbyist. They also have a tag line - Having fun with trains. Logo is the missing part.

To Benny's point - MRH or some stylized version of it = the peacock = logo.
To Dave's point -  Model Railroad Hobbyist = NBC = strap line.

When being used in familiar venues the logo alone suffices. When used in new environments the logo+strap is used. Either way, the logo is the easily recognized, unique brand identifier. Hence the logo always appears. Strap and tag are situational dependent.

do they make clam shucking knives?....DaveB

Here is a logo (plus strap) I did for the company a few years back. It supports what Benny says in that it uses just first letters. Notice its design is tightly tied to the product it represents - car painting training. The design uses the first letters of each word to form an abstract person and car, the two key components of the product... teaching people to paint cars. If we had instead used only the title spelled out "Car Refinish Instruction Centers" it would have been boring, not instantly recognizable, and terribly difficult to use artistically on signs, advertisements, and promo trinkets like being discussed in this thread.

In today's news from the model industry....

Viewing the video in the standard YT player size, the words on the shirt and lower third are not readable however you know immediately what company is being represented by the recognizable graphic. Brand recognition at work via a unique graphic. A good example of why a logo with just words is generally not as effective as a logo with a graphic.

more important than the shirt logo is what big city has a huge snow covered  mountain range in it's backyard? Some where in Switzerland? .DaveB

Hi,

Hats are useful if you are an outdoors type, the patch Idea I think is a winner as far as mugs go I have a ton of mugs most have trains on them and the rest have company logos from various employers that I have work for over the years. Shirts in 2X and 3X is a must if you go that route.

Here are some thoughts on the rolling stock we are not all HO scalers so maybe a set of decals for N, HO, and O and G might be a great idea versus an actual freight car.

Now thinking outside the box maybe a beer stein and how about signed autographs of the MRH staff on color pics of the staff with their personal layouts in a paperbond format?

A lot of folks are making really good points on shirts and patches.  I have a tendency to wear my shirts 'till they're unwearable.  I would really love a nice coffee cup or mug and a ball cap.  I can wear the hell out of a ball cap and not hurt it too much.  I drink a lot of coffee, too.  If someone designs something nice, I will lobby my lovely little wifey to let me buy them.

Logo design work is not so simple as the result leads one to believe:

  Especially when they don't know that if the triangles in the Y and the A are identical then the sides of the letters would be parallel? ......DaveB

Thinking about this for sometime, and was trying to see what would be a good way to convey the brand (MRH) and the hobby.  Although the brand is awesome, to someone viewing the shirt it may not connect what the brand is and what it is about.  I would love to snag a shirt, but getting one with more than a company logo (no offense, but I have dozens and dozens of brand logo shirts), so what could we do to send a message.  How about on the front (center, or whatever) and on the back you can choose from several different "yes, it's a model" and above or underneath the picture you could have the "mrhmag.com" in the glowing yellow as it is on the homepage banner?  By having a vote and doing a yearly series (aka best of) you would also be getting user input and maybe more submissions due to the interactive marketing.  Just a thought.  

Joe Stuart. 

Sorry, to clarify the Model Railroad Hobbyist Magazine complete logo would be on the front.

I prefer wearing a Polo/Golf Shirt so if one was available with an MRH Logo, large enough to see, but located wear a pocket would be on the shirt, that would be perfect!

Ken L.

If M.R.H. decals were available they could be applied to the rolling stock of one's choice. (mine is HO scale)  It would be interesting to see what each modeler's application would be.

I know I would be pleased to apply M.R.H. decals on some of my rolling stock, roadside billboards, the sides of buildings, tractor trailers or any place appropriate for advertising on my layout.

As well, I would be happy with a cloth badge that I could sew on a jacket, hat or shirt.

Hope to see something available, soon.

G. T.

I'll vote (buy) a patch or two.  I don't purchases polo shirts because no one ever has them in a Tall size..  Being 6'5" makes it very hard to get under the layout and find cool railroad shirts.

I already use several of the advertisers to MRH, but would support the on line magazine by purchasing items by MRH if they were available.

Thanks Joe for having us.

Any update on what MRH may provide for sale?

Not yet, still negotiating ...

I look forward to the offering.

Bump to front page.

I would buy a shirt just to get this thread to end. Okay, just kidding, but it just keeps getting bumped to the front! Oh crap, I just did it again.

Joe,

I will be at several train shows and starting in January will be attending more NMRA Regional & National Conventions, along with other meetings (such as the RPM gathering at Cocoa Beach, FL in january) and I would love to be wearing MRH apparel.  Any chance the T-Shirts will be available in the next month?!

Ken L

Maybe everyone could scratch build their own MRH shirts, cups, caps, etc.  and post the results on the friday photo fun threads? You know once you scratch build anything the manufacturers come out with a RTR version soon after? .........DaveB

....but it would be a violation of MRH's copyright, or else I would screen print a couple MRH T-Shirts to wear on my own! ;-)

Ken L

Don't think they have a copyright on something they have yet to make :>)  You can make stuff for yourself but not for others. You could scratch build yourself a UP diesel for instance but could not sell them without permission...DaveB

Any word yet Joe?  We have Prototype rails coming up in Jan.

So nothing ever came out of this?

You can never have too much detail or too many trees on a layout.

We experimented with a few things but it was a financial sinkhole. Plus they’re just a distraction from building products that help modelers do the hobby better.

One thing we did do in 2015 is create a logo: The MRH Shield … thank you Scott Thornton!

I know I owe at least one person a T-shirt if we ever make them again. :-) 

I disagree with Joe and think these would be very popular. They could be produced and distributed by someone else with a license from MRH to keep it a reasonable addition to the current workload. 

As long as a third party handles the merchandise production, shipping, and everything but the remitting of the proceeds back to MRH, it's feasible, but as soon as MRH starts trying to do more and more of this in house, the less feasible it is.

My uncle had a mailing business, and it is a thankless enterprise.  No matter how hard you work, either, there's the same barely profitable pile of the same thing the next day.

No.

YES !

I wonder if the best solution for people who want MRH merch would be for Joe to have some designs done with logos for mugs, caps, t shirts.... and turn over production and fulfillment to some online outfit like Cafe Press to have them handle orders, production, and shipping. Once the logos were done and the available products selected, Joe could wash his hands of the whole mess and not have to worry about it.

Cafe Press is the worst choice for promotional items, they are quite expensive. There are other far less expensive options. Because promo items never sell well when we’ve made them, I’ve seen them as mainly a bandwidth black hole for our time.

We’re about content that helps you achieve you hobby dreams, so that’s where we spend our time. T-shirts and coffee mugs don’t help you become a better modeler, and if our content isn’t enough to get you excited about sharing us with your modeling buddies, then no T-shirt or coffee mug you have to go out of your way to buy will change that.

Give me a license and I’ll make them available. A T-shirt for $20 or Polo Shirt for $35 doesn’t seem unreasonable. Not only do we wear these to events but post pictures as well.  Getting readers isn’t all about content - you’ve got that.

Those who don’t want one don’t need to buy one. Simple. 

Joe, set you a email on these 

rich

I would be interested in a nice ceramic type coffee cup. No cheap plastic please. I have enough caps and tee shirts to last the rest of my life. But thats just me Thanks....John

Your forte at MRH is strictly digital. Don't.  I can safely predict this would not make back the investment in any such memorabilia stock. 

I am buying HO model railroad products or specific tools only these days. Junk and future clutter does not interest me. 

I don't pay you to advertise you, you pay me.

I like t-shirts and hats.  X large for me.

Put a cool train picture on the t shirt with your logo and who you are.  Nobody has ever heard of you.  When I walk into a train shop, I want people to walk and ask about what the t shirt is all about.  

I have two other hobbies,  armature astronomy and auto racing.  Both have dazzling t-shirts.

I have one t-shirt of a large telescope showing the metal infrastructure.  When I go to the grocery store people share at the shirt, ask me about it because it is so compelling.

The NYC art deco Hutson would be a good subject with the right picture.

Mike Lee

I stand neutral on all this stuff. I have so many caps now, and only one head. LOL I have so many coffee cups now, and only one mouth. LOL So, if JoeF is serious, as he mentions in the above thread/dated 11/6/21 13:32. IMHO, there's no real need and might be another hassle for him to maintain. ? How many do you order? How much inventory do you stock? So, maybe we should just let this die and forget about cups, caps, tee shirts, etc.