The whole branding/gold standard debate is an interesting one, certainly one with a lot of mileage in it. Bearing in mind the old "opinions are like ar*eholes..." saying, heres mine:

First up, Northern. Keep it. Lighten the shade maybe, add a dash of white (I'm thinking the old Northern proud of our routes era) but get rid of any reference to Go North East. It just confuses things in my opinion. Interestingly, people from my neck of the woods with no interest in buses whatsover still refer to "The Northern". Use it, harness it. Go North East as a name means nothing.

Next up, I'd keep the brandings specific to a local area as is. I'm thinking East Durham, Tynedale Links, Venture. One base colour, couple of vinyls, job done.

Your high profile express routes (Tyne Tees e.g) & trunk routes (Angel, Red Kite etc) keep as branded. Decent paint job, higher quality vinyls etc - enough to tell the difference in quality between a local East Durham for example, if that makes sense.

The rest, get rid (Pulse, Fab 57 etc). Northern livery, maybe with route specific lettering.

I've been impressed with recent efforts (revised Ten, TTX, Angel, Tynedale Links) - to me they give off an impression of quality. And so they should, obviously the vehicles help.

I just think, if you're going to do it, do it properly. Too many dilutes the whole thing. I can totally understand why they've gone down this route, I just think it's gone a bit too far.