But it's all over now

In the 2007 film Helvetica, Massimo Vignelli talks about his 1967 logotype design for American Airlines (done in the typeface Helvetica), and says that it's the only airline that hasn't changed it's logotype.

   

That's all over now. FutureBrand has now redesigned the logo, now called the "Flight Symbol".

Is it me, or is the treatment of the A/eagle looking a little Anheuser-Busch?

Or US Postal Service-ish?

Are there only so many ways to "brand an eagle"?

Images courtesy of company websites.

Tail Tales

One of the main thrusts of the Visual Process class I taught at FIT this past semester was to discuss the importance of communicating without words. We concentrated on universal symbols, but covered other images that transmit info pronto. While sitting aboard our plane awaiting takeoff (not so pronto), I noticed that plane tails are darned good real estate for the airlines' logos (in addition, of course, to acting as crucial airplane parts). Although these tails hew more to brands than to symbols, here are a few tail/tales shot through a window murkily (a good test of how the shapes hold up). Do you think Delta and Alitalia are commercial partners because each airline uses the triangle?



NASA's info is about airplane parts is soooooo interesting, but they could use some cooler graphics.