The Allplane Podcast #107: designing iconic airline brands with Ryan Frost, Creative Executive Director at Landor

Landor is, possibly, the creative agency that has designed the most iconic brands in aviation.

British Airways, Alitalia, Singapore Airlines and Etihad are just a few of the big names of the airline industry that have entrusted their public identity to Landor’s creative minds.

On this episode of the podcast we speak with Ryan Frost, Executive Creative Director at Landor, about the attributes of a great airline brand and we dissect what and how three great British airlines that couldn’t be more different between them - British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and easyJet - have chosen to communicate those attributes.

We also take a look at some iconic projects completed by Landor in the past, not just the world-famous BA “Landor livery”, which was for many years almost like an unofficial national symbol of Britain, but also others that have defined an era in airline branding, such as Alitalia’s, its more modern reincarnation in ITA Airways and Etihad Airways.

How often does an airline need to change its livery? How airline brands have adapted to the changing nature of the air travel business over the last few decades?

We will talk about these and some other aspects of airline brand design on today’s episode of the podcast!

Download this episode from:

Apple Podcasts / iTunes, Spotify or Google Podcasts

Things we talk about in this episode

Ryan’s professional background and his role as Executive Creative Director
What is Landor? Why it has such a major role in defining the aesthetics of the airline industry
What famous airline brands are the work of Landor designers
What makes a great airline brand?
What do the brands of British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and easyJet communicate respectively
How has airline branding evolved over time
How often should an airline update its brand
Ryan’s favourite airline branding projects