What is the history for United Airlines Logo

United Airlines Logo

Category : Airlines / Posted on: January 21, 2023 / Author: Admin

United Airlines Logo

United Airlines Logo History

This United advertisement dates back to the 1930s

The company standardized its logo in 1934. It featured a bar and a map of the route inside the circle.

The official logo was the bar and circle, but many variants of this logotype were used in advertising material and on United's fleet.

United chose a shield logo in red and white and blue in 1936 to communicate stability, solidarity, and familiarity to American travelers. One version was used with a star or a route map.

United Airlines - A Branding Evolution

The importance of managing resources is demonstrated by a well-designed and implemented logotype. A company that has a consistent logo and brand is considered well-managed overall will often be deemed to have a solid foundation. Here's a look at one company's search for brand consistency, relevance, and equity.

United Airlines, like many other airlines that were founded in the early 1900s, has gone through several phases of design changes.

United's first attempt to develop a graphic identity was after the merger between Boeing Air Transport and Pacific Air Transport. The airline then introduced a bar and circle logo that contained the words "United Airlines". In 1936, United tried to standardize its logo. It used a heraldic symbol with red, white, and black letters with "United," in a style called san-serifitalic typeface.

Variations of the shield logo were created in the 1940s and 1950s. They included skewing, stretching, and rearranging the logo. United's first slogan was "The Main Line Airway," which emphasized its New York-Chicago route. This term, later shortened to "Mainliner", was used to describe the period. The slanted-spire logo was first used by United in the 1960s. It replaced the shield and gave them a sense modernity. The original slogan, "The Main Line Airway", was changed to "Fly the Friendly Skies" in 1965. This would continue until 1996. The shield logo was gone by the 1970s. However, United's identity was tied to the "Fly the Friendly Skies” slogan. United tried several times to create a cohesive image, but they failed.

In 1973, Saul Bass' corporate identity plan was the first to establish a cohesive branding strategy at United. Saul Bass & Associates discovered that United had a non-structured identity system that was spread across the company.

The patchwork communicated United's philosophy to customers and employees alike. The new service mark consisted of a stylized red-blue "Double U” symbol as the visual focal point and a custom logotype featuring modified Handel Gothic sans serif letters to clearly identify company name. The chosen colours were the basic, warm United Red in balance with the cool United Blue.

Later, the Double U was nicknamed "the Tulip" because it disassociated the symbol from the "U", which in turn reduces its positive brand equity. Saul Bass' branding succeeded in unifying United's image, particularly in terms of its logotype and aircraft design. It is also notable that Saul Bass imposed consistent design criteria on advertising and promotion campaigns. This often happens the other way around. This branding was maintained for the next 20-years, with the exception of the 1979 reintroductions of the term Airlines.

Stephen Wolf ordered a new identity program in 1993 for United to help it appeal to business travellers. CKS Partners created the new identity. It retained the original Double U design of Saul Bass and replaced the sans serif logotype by a traditional serif face. The color grey was introduced to give United a more serious image than the red and blue. In United's architectural environments and livery, a lot of gray and blue pin stripes were introduced. CKS was a comprehensive system of environmental identification for United that did not rely on logo unification, as was the case with 1973.

United was purchased by its employees in 1994. However, Stephen Wolf implemented and managed the new identity program. This caused a lack in commitment to the changes and the new identity program was left confused after Wolf left.

In 1997 Pentagram Design launched a new branding campaign. Pentagram Design updated the United logo with a cropped version the Double U symbol. The company's name was bolder and the word "Airlines" was dropped from the logotype. Cropping the logo can have negative effects, similar to calling the Double U a tulip. It reduces brand equity and global recognition. United's name is in black while the name for the service is in gray to distinguish the different types of service. The slogan "Fly the Friendly Skies", which was originally used, was replaced by "It's Time to Fly."

Fallon Worldwide created United's most recent brand refresh in 2004. The new identity, which included a new livery for the aircraft, was meant to reenergize the brand after it failed to adapt with the market and went bankrupt.

The original gray and blue pin striping was removed from 1993's livery. It was replaced with a modified 1997 cropped service mark on aircraft tails. However, the logotype remained unchanged with the Double U and its 68-degree tilt. The new brand campaign was meant to create an emotional connection with customers but it didn't elicit an emotional response.

It was not necessary to change the corporate culture or create a new look. This was what transformed one of the most innovative airlines within the industry into one that is increasingly distant and arrogant. After the change was completed and customer trust was restored, it would be appropriate to celebrate the airline's resurgent brand, not vice versa.

Significance

United Airlines is the company in the aviation sector with the greatest number of redesigns. This has been true throughout its history. More than 12 times the logo of United Airlines has been modified. Finally, it was redesigned into something simple but still recognizable.

What is United Airlines?
United Airlines is the name of one of America's largest air carriers. It was founded in 1926 and has more than 800 aircraft flying to over 350 destinations around the world. Star Alliance is the airline's member.

2019 - Today

The 2019 redesign refined and clarified the lines of United Airlines' visual identity. It also changed its main color to a more vibrant and intense blue shade, making the logo stand out from the previous version.

Font and color

The bold capitalized "United” logotype is done in a bold sans-serif font that features traditional shapes of the letters. The font used for the United Airlines visual identity is very similar to Ephemera Kingsford Sans and Biondi Sans Bold.

A laconic, memorable logo in bright blue and white adds a sense responsibility and expertise to the company. It reflects its values of safety, comfort, and high-quality services. The logo's strong contrast between the two colours makes it timeless and striking. It also highlights the strongest aspects of the brand.