Disclaimer This blog is about the graphic design of burglar alarms and has no connection with the companies featured. Most photos show vintage sounders and are not the latest products of the firms under discussion. For up-to-date info on any company, please visit their official website.
Burglar Alarm Britain
Where vigilante culture meets vernacular design
Category Archives: Speed
“Britannia”, Westminster: Roman invader
Posted by on June 22, 2012
“Britannia” burglar alarm, City of Westminster • You’d think invasion was a bad subject for burglar alarms – let alone for a country – but both Britain and security firms seem to revel in our colonisation by Rome. Thus there are quite a few alarms on a “Romans in Britain” theme – or, as this one more accurately puts it, in Britannia. I prefer Britannia’s older two designs, here, assuming it’s the same firm. But thankfully they’ve retained the Union Jack (or Union Flag, as we’re boringly supposed to call it these days), and are to be applauded for depicting only the fourth woman I’ve come across on a sounder. However Boadicea might have been better, as she at least tried to keep the Romans at bay.• Spotted: Strand, City of Wetminster, London, WC2, England, 2011 • Politics: In the Conservative constituency of Cities of London and Westminster
“Instant Aid Protection”, Westminster: bold promise
Posted by on May 22, 2012
“Instant Aid Protection” burglar alarm, City of Westminster • This vintage Eurobell boldly promises instant aid, which is about as speedy as you can get. I’m not sure if the company was called “Instant Aid” or “Instant Aid Protection”, but either way it’s not exactly a catchy name, and the logo – if such it is – is pretty basic too. It was found in the dilapidated but once-grand shopping arcade at Victoria Station (hence the fancy moulding, below), which is now being redeveloped. • Spotted: Victoria Arcade, City of Westminster, London, SW1, England, 2004 • Politics: In the Conservative constituency of Cities of London and Westminster
The alarm in its grungily grand setting at Victoria Station
“Pizza Express”, Camden: pizza mind
Posted by on May 21, 2012
“Pizza Express” burglar alarm, Camden • Even if the burglar alarm engineer moves slowly you’ll get a meal pretty fast with this company. I’m rather impressed that Pizza Express have had customised sounders printed up for all their branches, and in posh-looking silver (well, chrome, or plastic or something) too. Not many firms do that. Pity you can see the unpainted patch behind it where they had a presumably non-pizza-branded sounder before. • Spotted: Parkway, Camden, London, NW1, England, 2010 • Politics: In the Labour constituency of Holborn and St Pancras
“Security Express”, Camden: slanty-edged
Posted by on May 20, 2012
“Security Express Alarms” burglar alarm, Camden • Bearing the ever-popular shield trope, this slanty-edged bell box is a type that was once quite popular – indeed, it’s still a common sight on old Cannon alarms around Bristol. There were some comments about the sounder’s design beneath this SWAT box from York, including that it’s “very loud and sounds unique”, and is possibly a Regal Safe product. Regarding speed, the firm is express no more: a company search shows it was incorporated in 1946 and was also known in the 1980s as Hornet and later Computa-Guard, but was bought by Chubb in the 1990s. Blimey, the stuff you can turn up on the internet. • Spotted: Covent Garden area, Camden, London, WC2, England, 2004 • Politics: In the Labour constituency of Holborn and St Pancras
“Swift Fire & Security”, Ealing: strangely static
Posted by on May 19, 2012
“Swift Fire & Security” burglar alarm, Ealing • At last, a Swift that’s easy to find – the 1982-founded company’s website is here. You see absolutely loads of their alarms around, but nicely designed though it is, their logo doesn’t visually suggest speed in any way; in fact, it looks positively static. It’s on the same unusual soap-dish box as the Key Integrated Systems here, which I now know is called an Odyssey 4. • Spotted: Ashbourne Parade, Ealing, London, W5, England, 2006 • Politics: In the Conservative constituency of Ealing Central and Acton
“Swift Security Systems”, Southwark: 1970s band
Posted by on May 18, 2012
“Swift Security Systems” burglar alarm, Southwark • This looks like the logo for a 1970s band, as doodled on the back of a schoolbook. It’s positively leaning forward with swiftness, and the enclosing “S” is keeping everything safe. I can’t find an extant firm called specifically Swift Security Systems, however, so its provenance remains a mystery. • Spotted: Borough High Street, Southwark, London, SE1, England, 2011 • Politics: In the Liberal Democrat constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark
“Swift Alarms Supplies”, Westminster: fast flier
Posted by on May 17, 2012
“Swift Alarms Supplies Limited” burglar alarm, City of Westminster • There are billions (approx) of security firms featuring birds, but this is only the second Swift I’ve found – the other one is here, and is called simply Swift. This looks like the same silhouette and font as on that one, so I reckon it’s an older incarnation of the same company which, judging by the 0892 code, was based in the Tunbridge Wells area. The selfsame bird can be found on the current website of Swift Alarms Group, and indeed it says they started life in Tunbbridge Wells in 1978 as Swift Alarms Supplies Limited, so my guess was right. I should have just gone to their website first… • Spotted: Newman Passage, City of Westminster, London, W1, England, 2012 • Politics: In the Conservative constituency of Cities of London and Westminster
“Alarmfast”, Glasgow: Caledonian sail
Posted by on May 16, 2012
“Alarmfast” burglar alarm, Glasgow • Here’s a more recent version of yesterday’s self-explanatory “fast” alarm. They’ve moved to the unusual tupperware box-style shape I featured here, and pruned their weird logo to simply the spindly triangle, which now looks like a hang glider sail, or perhaps an arrow. The red sandstone wall behind it shows this is from Glasgow: Alarmfast sounders are all over the place there, as befits a 20-year-old Caledonian firm. • Spotted: Merchant City area, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, G1, Scotland, 2010 • Politics: In the Labour constituency of Glasgow Central
“Alarmfast”, Glasgow: obscure logo
Posted by on May 15, 2012
“Alarmfast” burglar alarm, Glasgow • OK, it’s an alarm and it’s fast – I get it. But what on earth the obscure logo is meant to suggest I simply can’t guess: a circle, a rounded corner, and a spindly triangle. Eh? • Spotted: Merchant City area, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, G1, Scotland, 2010 • Politics: In the Labour constituency of Glasgow Central
“Vitesse”, Westminster: ooh la la
Posted by on May 14, 2012
“Vitesse” burglar alarm, City of Westminster • Ooooh la la – this is French for “quickness”. The stylish two-tone logo looks straight out of a 1970s Gallic sci fi movie (or maybe off a 1990s Daft Punk CD sleeve), and sports a tick (the mark, not the insect) which, though popular on deodorants, is a rare alarm trope. The box itself is an unusual flattish metal design, the same as this rusty old Mayfair Selby /York Alarm Centre effort. • Spotted: Berwick Street, City of Westminster, London, W1, England, 2012 • Politics: In the Conservative constituency of Cities of London and Westminster
“CalQuick”, Southwark: grungy nut
Posted by on May 13, 2012
“CalQuick Security Systems” burglar alarm, Southwark • Found in a crumbly Peckham arcade, this grungy old sounder features a splendid technical drawing-style monogram which resembles a wrench turning a nut. Unlike yesterday’s firm, they managed to spell the word “Quick” right – then lost the plot with “Call”.• Spotted: Station Way, Southwark, London, SE15, England, 2010 • Politics: In the Labour constituency of Camberwell and Peckham
“Kwick Alarms”, Lambeth: kwick kwick slow
Posted by on May 12, 2012
“Kwick Alarms Ltd” burglar alarm, Lambeth • I love it when people replace “Qu” with “Kw” (cf Kwik Save, Kwik Fit, etc etc) – it just sounds, erm, kwicker (and cheaper). The logo, font fans, is in Belwe Bold – designed in the 1920s but very popular in the 1970s. 01 equals pre-1990, so this must be a pretty slow alarm by now. • Spotted: Windmill Walk, Lambeth, London, SE1, England, 2010 • Politics: In the Labour constituency of Vauxhall
“Sprint”, Camden: city speeding
Posted by on May 11, 2012
“Sprint Security Systems” burglar alarm, Camden • If your burglar alarm goes off you need help fast, so it’s not surprising that swiftness is a popular security theme. This superb vintage Sprint, which undoubtedly rang rather than beeping like a reversing lorry on steroids, is very similar to the Arlescourt sounder here. It’s ideally placed above a matching shop selling some vintage sprinters of a different type, namely Italian scooters (see below). And even the logo looks like it’s speeding. • Spotted: Clerkenwell Road, Camden, London, EC1, England, 2012 • Politics: In the Labour constituency of Holborn and St Pancras
A vintage Sprint alarm above some classic sprinters
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