Design has found many spaces to exist including the skies. Every aspect of human life, every surface could be susceptible to become the focus of a designer’s creativity, and so is the case with the fuselage of an airplane. And that’s where liveries come into the picture.
An aircraft livery is a set of insignia comprising color, graphic, and typographical identifiers which operators (airlines, governments, air forces and occasionally private and corporate owners) apply to their aircraft.
Commercial airlines may also use their aircraft liveries as a major part of their branding and marketing efforts. Sometimes they will roll out special liveries for reasons including spotlighting cities they serve, promoting national emblems or highlighting a particular destination.
1. Brussels Airlines
For its liveries, Brussels Airlines chose to highlight some of Belgium’s national icons. They include the comic hero Tintin, Surrealist painter René Magritte, the Smurfs, the Red Devils national football team and the music festival Tomorrowland.
2. Icelandair
The airline looked at natural phenomena and the Nordics and found the answer. One of its Boeing 757-200s was painted in what it called the Hekla Aurora livery, which displays the Northern Lights. In Iceland it may be possible to see the Northern Lights between September and March.
3. Air New Zealand
The airline has honored “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” with a specially painted Boeing 777-300. Besides transporting people, the aircraft served one purpose well: it showcased the work Sir Peter Jackson, the New Zealander who directed the entire series set in his home country.
4. Rossiya Airlines
Russian carrier Rossiya Airlines has used the design on its airplanes for a cause: wildlife conservation. One of its Being 747s has been painted with the image of a Siberian tiger, also called Amur tiger. The Amur tiger has been catalogued as gravely endangered due to excessive hunting and poaching
5. Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines chose to remain very close to its American spirit but in playful way. As part of its partnership with Disneyland, the airline unveiled the “Spirit of Disneyland® II”, a Boeing 737-900 jet that features Disney characters Mickey, Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Goofy and Donald Duck.
