Airbus have launched their new A350F freighter aircraft which includes the integration of new materials technology and engine design. These advances in design and engineering will provide up to 40% greater efficiency in terms of fuel burn and carbon emissions when compared to existing freighters in use today. On 3 October 2022 they launched a worldwide livery design competition open to everyone and approximately 4000 entries were submitted. The results were announced on 15 March 2023 and the image above depicts my submission (as Simcoemedia).
Key Features
The design focuses upon the Airbus A350F freighter improvements in fuel burn and carbon emissions. Following several iterations exploring colour, texture, shape of the artwork, I settled upon the sweeping curves, flowers and text as seen above. The key features of my design are:
- Focus upon environmental considerations and green agenda eg reduced fuel burn and CO2 emissions
- Gerbera Flowers connect to environmental themes as they represent closeness to nature and peace in some cultures
- A series of thin lines at front and back flow over the top of the plane symmetrically on both sides
- ‘Polar Bear’ nose paint to follow the Airbus BelugaXL’s animal theme and connecting with environmental themes
- Original artwork and design (except for the use of iStockphoto vector image of flowers #585304130)
Design Challenges
Designing a livery for an aircraft such as the Airbus A350F is challenging as there are a variety of strict guidelines to follow in terms of non-editable and paint only (low detail) areas. There are also licensing and resolution considerations when stock images are used. These have a significant impact on the approach to this kind of design problem. In addition, in a similar way to a logo, the design should be clear, attractive and visually ‘make sense’ at distance and up close.
Some of the early designs were colourful with shapes and textures attractive at close range but at a distance looked confusing, lacked clarity and demonstrated just how tricky this process would be. The A350F livery was developed over a few creative sessions during a two week period, where each exploration of ideas created solutions to different parts of the final submission.
The final submitted design combines themes of nature and technology with use of white space to both ensure the livery guidelines are adhered to and emphasise the colour of key elements.
