Analyzing Airline Logos
We are going to cover some popular airline companies with their logos. Think about a brand and close your eyes, if you see the logo of that brand, then it means a success for that company and advertisers/designers/creators. And think about what emotions and feelings that the logo awakens in you.
First, let’s start with brief information about what a logo is. What are the principles of a logo?
The Story Behind Turkish Airlines’ Iconic Logo
What is a logo?
A logo is a symbol made up of text and/or images that identifies a business. A good logo shows or evokes what a company does and what the brand values are.
Logo design is all about creating the perfect visual brand mark for a company. Depending on the type, a logo usually consists of a symbol or brand mark and a logotype, along with a tagline.
The word type is the key. The type of the company is the starting point of the design process. Let’s think about airline companies. What are the main objectives and aims of these companies? Quality? Speed? Safety? Origins?…
Now let’s have a look to the principles of making a logo.
All the aim is to build and create an image which serves to the companies’ goals and objectives. There some principles that help to designers and creators on the process. According to Adîr et al. (2012), a logo must be:
- Legible – a very good writing;
- Coherent – clear, easy to be understood;
- Adaptable – to be designed in horizontal and vertical formats, in any size;
- Reproducible – easy to be copied, black and white or colored;
- Memorable – never forget it;
- Timeless – means a test to survive in time;
- Simple – to be easy recognized.
And same research pinpoints to a very useful topic. Geometric shapes and their suggestive inductions.
Operational Importance of Airline Visual Identity
Airline logos and tail designs are not purely marketing tools. In busy airport environments, visual identity also contributes to rapid aircraft recognition by ground personnel, airport operators, and even air traffic controllers during visual operations. Consistent tail branding improves fleet recognizability across large international hubs.
Table 1. Suggestive Induction of the Shape in a Logo Design
| Geometric shape | Suggestive induction |
| Circle | Perfection, Balance |
| Square | Stability, Power |
| Rectangle | Duration, Progress |
| Ellipse | Continue searching |
| Triangle | Harmony, Urge towards |
| Spiral | Advancement, Detaching |
| Sphere | Perfection, Finality |
| Pyramid | Integration, Convergence |
| Cube | Stability, Integrity |
Now let’s look at some of the logos of airline companies.
Circle – Perfection and Balance, Maple Leaf – Origin …
(Maple Leaf is one of the symbols of Canada)
Crown – Origin, Memorable, Timeless… (KLM is Royal Dutch Airlines)
Circle – Perfection and Balance, Crane flies eagle on logo – speed, strength…
Plum Blossom flower (one of the symbolic image of China) – Origin
Pegasus (Mythologica horse that can fly) – strength, speed, Orange tail part – speed …
As you see airline company logos are designed over same themes which serves to build a strong customer impression according to company values. Here are some more logos down here.
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