One of the criticism of the possible Aegean Airlines livery from the previous post is it does not look very Greek (I agree). My guess is they wanted to maintain a connection and continuity with the old logo featuring two stylized seagulls while "freshening" up the design.
Some readers at Airliner.net offered opinions and suggestions on what they think the Greek airline should try to convey with their new branding. One person said this:
Must resist temptation... should resist... can't... Sorry, I just had to try out some ideas:
You may be asking "What the hell is that?" I know I am. Designing a unique livery can be more of a challenge than many people realize. The reason airlines trend towards similar styles is because they generally work well. Rebranding an image is inherently costly for a major company. It is not just a new paint job. Everything related to the brand has to be updated—from print material, signs, uniforms, seat fabrics, websites, etc. Stepping outside safe, well-trodden ground and failing is risky.
Since nothing is at stake here and it is just for fun, I tried to create a fictional Greece holiday airlines livery using a mashup of Greek symbols (and a little love to the Macedonia region thrown in), an Aegean palette of sky/water/sand/stone colors, and the geometric design trend used by Air Malta and Etihad Airways of late:
I also wanted to try to step outside my own aesthetic restraints.
So... Is it classy? Perhaps not. Busy? Very. Different? Definitely! Would it make a good Greek/Aegean airline livery? You tell me.
CAN IT BE SALVAGED? SHOULD IT BE?
Okay, I must confess I do actually like the livery. I think it has potential. And of course it's almost impossible to divorce one's sense of aesthetics from the design process without making a conscious effort to deliberately do so. For the graphic designer, the purpose of sketches and rough drafts is to flesh out ideas and see where they lead us.
One striking thing about the livery is the vibrant and pleasing color scheme. The commenter at the top of the post was certainly onto something to suggest the blues of the Aegean region—not just of sea and sky, but also the famous blue domed buildings with their brilliant white walls:
Another thing I like is how the Greek meander pattern is reminiscent of a passport stamp. Even some of the geometric shapes suggest ancient pediments and columns (work with me here). The gold in the design is a natural color compliment of blue as well, but perhaps it competes too much with the primary blues so let's try reducing its prominence and see what we get:
The layout is a little less cluttered now and I like how the simplified Vergina sun on the tail and its solid background mirrors the colors of the Greek flag on the fuselage. I can almost see the brilliant Aegean sun shining down on turquoise and deep blue water. Still, it needs work before we have something bold and unique and cohesive.
(To be continued, possibly.)
Meanwhile, here are some other ideas that just didn't quite work out:
This logo of a seagull, sun, sea, and sand is not terrible but I could not get it to work at all on the tail (it seems more appropriate for a small resort anyway):
CREDIT
I would like to credit Med at Airline Empires for providing the A320neo template that was used as the basis for this work. He has made Photoshop templates for many commercial aircraft and I highly recommend anyone interested in this sort of thing to check them out.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Some readers at Airliner.net offered opinions and suggestions on what they think the Greek airline should try to convey with their new branding. One person said this:
However, I wouldn't mind seeing the styled variation of the Greek flag on the tail, for example. It is one of the most beautiful flags in the World and highly recognizable. And I wouldn't mind seeing any of the fantastic shades of blue of the Aegean sea, somewhere. It is up to designers. It is their job to create something that would be long-lasting and classy. I like what AirMalta did to their national symbol and how their livery represents the fact that Malta is not just a tiny little boring island in the middle of the Mediterranean. Etihad did a fantastic job of portraying the desert differently.
Must resist temptation... should resist... can't... Sorry, I just had to try out some ideas:
You may be asking "What the hell is that?" I know I am. Designing a unique livery can be more of a challenge than many people realize. The reason airlines trend towards similar styles is because they generally work well. Rebranding an image is inherently costly for a major company. It is not just a new paint job. Everything related to the brand has to be updated—from print material, signs, uniforms, seat fabrics, websites, etc. Stepping outside safe, well-trodden ground and failing is risky.
Since nothing is at stake here and it is just for fun, I tried to create a fictional Greece holiday airlines livery using a mashup of Greek symbols (and a little love to the Macedonia region thrown in), an Aegean palette of sky/water/sand/stone colors, and the geometric design trend used by Air Malta and Etihad Airways of late:
I also wanted to try to step outside my own aesthetic restraints.
So... Is it classy? Perhaps not. Busy? Very. Different? Definitely! Would it make a good Greek/Aegean airline livery? You tell me.
CAN IT BE SALVAGED? SHOULD IT BE?
Okay, I must confess I do actually like the livery. I think it has potential. And of course it's almost impossible to divorce one's sense of aesthetics from the design process without making a conscious effort to deliberately do so. For the graphic designer, the purpose of sketches and rough drafts is to flesh out ideas and see where they lead us.
One striking thing about the livery is the vibrant and pleasing color scheme. The commenter at the top of the post was certainly onto something to suggest the blues of the Aegean region—not just of sea and sky, but also the famous blue domed buildings with their brilliant white walls:
Another thing I like is how the Greek meander pattern is reminiscent of a passport stamp. Even some of the geometric shapes suggest ancient pediments and columns (work with me here). The gold in the design is a natural color compliment of blue as well, but perhaps it competes too much with the primary blues so let's try reducing its prominence and see what we get:
The layout is a little less cluttered now and I like how the simplified Vergina sun on the tail and its solid background mirrors the colors of the Greek flag on the fuselage. I can almost see the brilliant Aegean sun shining down on turquoise and deep blue water. Still, it needs work before we have something bold and unique and cohesive.
(To be continued, possibly.)
Meanwhile, here are some other ideas that just didn't quite work out:
This logo of a seagull, sun, sea, and sand is not terrible but I could not get it to work at all on the tail (it seems more appropriate for a small resort anyway):
CREDIT
I would like to credit Med at Airline Empires for providing the A320neo template that was used as the basis for this work. He has made Photoshop templates for many commercial aircraft and I highly recommend anyone interested in this sort of thing to check them out.
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