Virgin Atlantic restyling

Firstly, some early livery designs that used the full name “virgin atlantic” very large on the fuselage were very well received — a clear indication that the company wanted to return to calling itself by its full name. Secondly, there were logistical issues with the previous logo and symbol that made use of it problematic. Thirdly, the overall house style that had been in place for over a decade needed a typographic refresh and more consistency, so it could be applied from a myriad applications, from airport banners and bag drop signs, to tiny applications on iPhones and aggregator sites.

The new identity definitely goes after the current look of contemporary british design. The redrawn typography, in its super-light weight, tight kerning and lowercase setting says “British” without needing the word Virgin or Branson to lead you there. I appreciate the retention of the implied fuselage, but when the typography is applied to the actual fuselage it seems to suffer from the layout of the windows — a known challenge from the outset when defining the system. The redesigned fin, the most effective retooled element in the suite, does a terrific job at implying the plane form and motion while at the same time cleaning up the dimensional rendering. That being said, the lock-up of the “virgin atlantic” typography and fin feels a bit clunky — much of it due to the relationship defined by the scale and layout of the two elements.