Established in 1980 as Princeville Airways, Island Air, as it was renamed in 1995, is Hawaii’s leading regional and second longest-running carrier, with 352 weekly flights to seven destinations on the islands of Hawaii, Kauai, Lanai, Maui, Molokai, and Oahu, on a fleet of two adorable “twin-engine turboprop short-haul aircraft” that accommodate 46 and 64 passengers. Last week, Island Air introduced a new logo and livery designed by New York, NY-based Clark/Huot.
ClarkHuot was asked to help re-imagine and redesign Island Air’s overall brand identity with a focus on the development of an eye-catching new aircraft livery. The new identity consists of a bold and graphic representation of Hawaii’s iconic and storied lei. The color program includes a selected range that denotes the indigenous and natural hues of the Island, including the volcanic ring of fire as well as the eye-catching effect of a ceremonial Hawaiian torch dance. The name is rendered in a new, more contemporary typeface, Dessau Pro Drei. In addition Island Air’s new brand expression will include application onto various touch points including online, in-flight and airport materials. This new design program will work to better re-position the airline as the preferred choice for both local and tourist inter-island travel.
— Clark/Huot Provided Materials
The old logo wasn’t anything remarkable — although the slightly horizontally-scaled use of Trajan should be remarked as awful — nor was it particularly Hawaiian. And by that I don’t mean that it should scream HAWAII! but it should at least try. The new logo tries and, without a doubt, it definitely succeeds in looking like a Hawaii airline but, unfortunately it didn’t try hard enough to go one step beyond an expected solution. The icon is a lei. That’s it. There is no visual play, there is no twist, there is no surprise. I’m not implying that the logo should be a lei in the shape of the islands doing a Hula dance but the execution is flat and rudimentary; I really wish there was something more to it. The name of the airline, set in a Bauhaus-esque sans serif and in stark black, makes for a strange contrast agains the fire-toned icon and feel like two different identities coming together. The one aspect I sort of like in this redesign is the tail of the airplanes, with the blues and turquoises offsetting the lei icon. Overall, yes, it’s now obviously a Hawaiian airline, but not a very inspiring one.
Thanks to Edgar Omar Garcia for the tip.
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