Logos
Black, our national colour? Have your say…
by Corinne Smith on 16/08/2012
“Black is our national colour and it inspires pride in Kiwis.” – Rob Fyfe, Air NZ Chief Executive.
Would you agree?
It has been almost a month since AirNZ launched their new logo from Designworks and Kris Sowersby. I have to apologise on being so tardy on this one, instead only sharing Kris Sowersby’s blog on his process via Twitter and Facebook.
I’m surprised that for work on this scale little has been said about it, particularly in regards to truely critiquing the design. Perhaps this is a natural reluctance to critique due to the small size of our industry. Strong feedback to date appears to be from employees and the general public. In response to this Sowersby noted on his blog:
“It’s most important, I think, to understand the scale that companies like Air New Zealand operate: change like this is not undertaken lightly.”
Regardless, I look forward to seeing the full application of this refresh, due for rollout by the end of the year. Instead of re-hashing what has already been said, I thought it best to ask:
What does the local design community thinks about the change?
It’s ok as a limited edition (as in the image above), but not sure about it for a full scale re-branding and roll-out across the whole fleet. My own personal opinion is that everything has its zenith where it will be difficult to surpass that particular format or positioning. Try re-branding McDonald’s or Coca-Cola or the Japanese flag – sometimes it isn’t necessary, sometimes things are just realised to their full potential. I admit when the last Air NZ brand was rolled out in the nineties I wasn’t too impressed and it may be in time that I come to like this current ‘black’ livery but the green/blue bleed on the tail and the two islands was as strong a concept as any. Even the serif type which again at first I thought inappropriate for an airline did seem a good fit: modern, sleek yet traditional. Of course there are no rules to art and design and to that end the thinking from the creatives behind this shift toward black is admirable. If only someone would do something as radical with the Auckland Harbour Bridge – now that would look better black. As for national colour, I’ll leave that one hanging…