Aerolíneas Argentinas - Concept Identity Redesign
Aerolíneas Argentinas (AR) has been Argentina's main and largest airline since 1950. As a flag carrier of a vast and diverse nation, with a deeply rooted historical significance, the very crafting of a brand redesign entails a major design challenge.
To mark the airline's 70th anniversary - and a merger by absorption of its smaller domestic subsidiary Austral, a new brand identity is proposed for the next stage of its history:
Aerolíneas, bandera Argentina.
(Aerolíneas, flag of Argentina.)
Historical Context
Resulting from the merger of four regional carriers, Aerolíneas' logo was inspired by the - relatively common - pictograms of birds in flight. Due to a public design competition, the merged airline introduced the andean condor (Vultur gryphus) as a nod to its southern american identity.
The symbols from Aerolíneas predecessors - from left to right: Aeroposta, ALFA, ZONDA, and FAMA.
Bottom: The original logo for Aerolíneas Argentinas, including the 'AA' acronym (dropped later at the request of American Airlines).
The condor symbol has remained strongly attached to the airline's brand identity for over six decades, although it has been consistently stylized to the detriment of its distinctive features. The current incarnation lacks any naturalistic representation of a condor - or even a bird for that matter - alluding to a generic symbol that offers few opportunities for improvement in its overall shape.
Subsequent stylizations of the Aerolíneas' condor - from left to right: 1950-79, 1979-1990,1990-2010, 2010 - Present.
A male Andean condor (Vultur gryphus).
The emblem. A new condor for a new Aerolíneas.
Enter the new condor.
The proposal sheds the stylized evolution of the classic logo for an emboldened take. In a slanted position, the new pictogram features a head - with its characteristic forehead crest - in counterform to a curved, swept wing with elongated feathers at the tip.
As a result, the symbol is revitalized while projecting speed and fluidity to a more modern look.
The brand: the colors of the flag.
The brand has a refreshed but simple aesthetic, with plain colours, solid textures and a minimal approach to place and represent the brand's attributes.
The main feature is the use of the cerulean colour, the official sky-blue variation imprinted on the Argentine flag (R: 117 - G: 170 - B: 219) for representing the condor symbol. Yellow and blue accents are added to provide flexibility and freshness to the color variations.
The typography includes rounded corners alluding to the bird's feathers, and a wide-scaled letters to increase its legibility for a wide array of applications.
Livery: Simple, elegant, big.
The livery application follows a simple concept: bring the condor into plain sight, taking advantage of its slanted form to occupy the vertical empennage of the aircraft. The use of halftones on the colour transitions in the bottom facilitates the paint application on the aircraft while giving a sense of depth to a distant observer. Small feather cutouts of the main symbol are painted on the wingtips to accentuate its character.
Stay tuned for part 2 ;)
