Punters slam pub chain Young’s for swapping traditional signs for ‘bland corporate graphic designs’

EXCLUSIVE:

  • Young’s has swapped pictorial signs for illustrations by a graphic design firm 
  • Move branded ‘disappointing’ by a senior member of a leading UK art charity 
  • Said painted pub signs give communities ‘character’ and ‘a link to local history’   

By RORY TINGLE, HOME AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 13:30, 7 January 2023 | UPDATED: 13:40, 7 January 2023

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A major pub chain has been criticised for replacing its traditional signs with ‘bland corporate graphic design’ that ‘leaves them resembling mere assets in a branding exercise’. 

Young’s, which operates nearly 220 pubs in London and the south of England, has swapped pictorial signs for illustrations based around the first letter of each pub’s name. 

For example, the Rose and Crown in Wimbledon Village in south-west London, which previously bore an image of Henry Tudor – the victor of the Wars of the Roses – now has a design based around the letter R. 

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