In the beginning of 2016 I was invited by Saffron Brand Consultants in London to join their team as illustrative designer to redesign the brand for Gulf Air. I had worked with Saffron in the past so I jumped at the chance.
The absolute vastness of this project became obvious to me when I was on the phone to, chief creative officer at Saffron, Gabor Schreier. When he was explaining what the project was about he casually dropped he was calling me from the ground of the aircraft manufacturer because the were redesigning the entirety of the fleet as well.
Luckily I was allowed to focus solely on the re-design of the iconic Gulf Air Falcon.
early sketches and pose explorations
Exploration
A massive part of these kinds jobs is the exploration of shape. An the Falcon was no exception. This bird needed to show strength without being overly aggressive while also remain dynamic and 'airy'.
Only through lots of sketching (by hand on paper, with a pencil in my case) could I fully explore the pose and efficiently search the right balance between an abstraction and naturalism.
From an early stage of development I took into account one of the most important usages of the logo; on the tail fin as part of the livery. That's why this shape was used as a guideline in the exploration phase.
advanced sketches
Further Development
As the falcon was being developed work (a lot of work) was also being done of the design and development of the overall identity design by the team at Saffron headed up by design director Craig Matchett. To assist them vector version and colour renders were made of some of the sketches that seemed to have a lot of portential.
I also assisted on researching possible ways to add colour to the bird.
In the meantime the overall shape of the bird kept being refined, both informed by its place in the overall brand design, its technical demands and of course client feedback.
early preliminary renders
suggested colour renders
Gulf Air’s iconic falcon has accompanied the airline from its very beginnings and is rooted in the Middle East’s psyche. A symbol of courage, perseverance and freedom, the falcon embodies the pristine and innovative service with the emotion and raw beauty that make Gulf Air more than just an airline.
- Saffron Brand Consultants
research for use on dark background (inverted version)
Final version
Below is the final version of what I delivered to Saffron to incorporate into the overall brand. I also developed a special version, corrected for use on small scales.
As mention above the whole of this identity was absolutely massive and well worth a visit to the Saffron site.
They did an amazing job and I feel quite honoured to have been a part of it.
final version an special small scale version
image is property of Saffron Brand Consultants
Credit and thanks go to:
Craig Matchett (Design Director)
Gabor Schreier (Chief Creative Officer)
Craig Matchett (Design Director)
Gabor Schreier (Chief Creative Officer)