Aegean, the national Greek airline has just unveiled a new brand identity, livery and aircraft interiors designed by Priestmangoode. The London-based studio worked closely with the airline to develop a vision for the new brand, building on an airline that already has a decent reputation for service and hard product.

This project encompassed pretty much everything, from logo design, livery, graphic items and digital products to cabin interiors including soft items, amenity kits and (stunning) meal services. It’s yet another example of a holistic design approach that are becoming more and more evident in the aviation experience – and something we applaud.

Luke Hawes, Director at PriestmanGoode says: ‘Aegean have shown great ambition with this project, which has been one of our quickest turnarounds. Working over approximately 12 months, we’ve worked together on a complete overhaul of Aegean, tying in with the airline’s new fleet of A320neo aircraft, and delivered an elegant, contemporary brand that encapsulates the airline’s values.’

It is the perfect time for the airline to utilise the arrival of a new aircraft to its fleet to reimagine its product, which is now a good few years old. The airline, one of a handful of regional and short-haul Star Alliance carriers hasn’t got the playground that wide-body carriers have to bring their brand to life in greater depth, so this fairly restrictive environment shows a restrained, and detailed approach to bringing the brand to life.

Anthony Morgan, Head of Brand at PriestmanGoode says “This has been one of our most comprehensive branding projects to date. It has been truly rewarding working alongside Aegean to see how we can carry forward their brand heritage and design a new identity that will take the airline into the future as one of Europe’s most loved carriers.

“The world has changed immeasurably since the last iteration of the airline’s brand identity, and airlines now need to have a strong online presence. We have designed a distinct identity that can apply across both physical and digital touchpoints.”

PriestmanGoode wanted to nod to Aegean’s former gull logo. The team transformed it – successfully in our opinion – into a modern form that references the brand’s heritage, but also references the landscape and the architecture of Greece more broadly.

The overall livery isn’t the most surprising, and certainly isn’t the most original, copying the same checkbox approach to design that Aer Lingus took, taking a former horizontal design and translating it into a swash-led tail-heavy design featuring the a similar secondary ribbon leading edge. That being said, the colours, and balance of the new Gull motif design feels more considered, helped in part from the nacelles and sharklets.

The word mark, positioned above the windows, is large enough to balance the weight of the tail, bringing balance to the overall design, but due to its size, makes it height visually give the impression it is visually broadcasting to the skies, rather than the boarding passengers.

The wordmark combines clean and sharp angles with rounded details that add softness of form, reminiscent of classical Greek architecture. The twin-gull symbol embraces Aegean’s key values of harmony and symmetry taking inspiration from the balance between the Aegean Sea and surrounding skies that unite the Greek nation.

The new brand identity which represents the Greek spirit through a core colour palette of Aegean Blue, Silver Blue and White, is celebrated further inside the aircraft with a rich, textured palette across bulkheads at the front and back of the cabin, seats and even the service-ware.

The seat fabrics in both Business Class and Economy feature a stitch pattern “inspired by the symmetry of Greek architecture, and the duality between the sky and the Aegean Sea.” The detail can also be seen in the headrests, which feature the twin gull logo as a stitch detail as well as other soft finishes including Business Class cushions.

We love some of the smaller details including abstracted patterns inspired by Greek landscapes, brand panels, and even the curtains featuring designs resembling ancient greek pillars.

While the airline hasn’t opted for hardwired inflight entertainment or larger business class seats similar to those found in Turkish Airlines which would have positioned the carrier as a true premium offering within Europe, the flexed Euro-business concept certainly mirrors the expectations within Europe.

Marina Valvi, Marketing Director at Aegean says: ‘Working with PriestmanGoode has been an incredibly fruitful partnership. They worked closely with us throughout the process, to understand our needs and to create a new brand identity that was respectful of our much-loved existing identity and reflected our vision for the future. We’re thrilled with the end result and are looking forward to rolling this out across all our products and services.’

We’re delighted by the end result, which has brought the carrier firmly in to the present, and we’re especially excited by the truly holistic approach to bringing the passenger experience together from a brand perspective. We look forward to seeing how the brand also comes to life in the ground experience products including their lounges, too.

The Big Greek Picture