My association with Thomas began when I was tasked to bring the design work on the brand in-house. All Thomas work was being done by an outside design firm. They were costly, and the brand was growing and adding DVD, so packaging costs were going to rise. By bringing the brand entirely in-house we could expand the product line quicker and cheaper. To facilitate this, I designed a set of templates that were much more user friendly than the complex set of eps files that were being used. The Thomas line look was well established. A large hero image over a small scene, with geometric shapes and bright PMS colors that changed with each release. I developed a pretty simple process, with simple color swap outs that were applied to a wide range of pieces. At its height a single Thomas release could consist of a VHS box, DVD slipsheets, disc art, insert, VHS train box, multiple DVD train boxes, all with the same imagery on a regular basis.

While the look was successful, there are only so many combinations of photos of Percy and PMS greens you can do before you can't tell them apart, and it was time for a refresh. There was a lot of experimentation with similar kinds of geometric templates, many featuring some of the newer Thomas railroad icon design elements that had been explored by other Thomas products.

In the end we opted for more traditional key art. While we would keep the geometric icons and elements to a color coded template on the back, the fronts would be hero shots reflecting the characters and stories in each episode. They were full images, fun colorful characters in fun colorful backgrounds, each with unique and also fun, colorful, title treatments. These would be made from stills, stock photography, style guide character shots, screen grabs and digital renders, all with extensive retouching to amplify the colors and expressions. This line look too would be applied across a wide variety of packaging types

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The Thomas brand also made extensive use of specialty packaging. Early on holographic foil releases, embosses, glow in the dark printing, glitter, felt textures, scratchy textures and more. And it didn't stop at printing treatments,  digipacks, sound chips, sculpted plastic faces, and even a translucent gelpack that simulated water were all released. Trains may have boxcars, but Thomas has boxes. Various configurations of trainboxes, and box sets maximized the lives of a variety of products.

The brand made extensive use of print advertising both trade and consumer, and various promotional efforts. There were also a variety of displays and POP material. One major component of those efforts were a series of colorful graphics heavy flyers that made extensive use of a variety of foils, coatings and die cuts much like their packaging counterparts. The Thomas brand was a pillar of Anchor Bay for many years. And it continues to move forward full steam ahead!

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