In the words of Alain de Botton, airports are the opposite of mundane, the opposite of routine. With their embedded ‘promise of change’, they represent an invitation to dream.
Farnborough Airport epitomises all this, and more: a sequence of sculptural, welcoming architectural spaces honouring the beauty of aircrafts. It’s a private gateway to London, infused by an attentive service ethos consistently delivered to passengers, crews and hangarage audiences.
Hunter was commissioned to enrich the airport’s brand, refining its tone of voice and visual language through a new brochure. We approached this project enthusiastically, with a resolve to bring the distinctive, exclusive, rare qualities of Farnborough Airport to life in an original way.
Our first step was to identify the airport’s key audiences: those enjoying the experience (the passenger ‘tribes’), and those delivering it (from crew to plane owners). And for both audiences, we defined the core behavioural drivers motivating them – ranging from ‘lifestyle optimisation’ to ‘time-efficiency’ for the first, and ‘sleek operations’ to ‘state-of-the-art technology’ for the second.
Our big idea to appeal to both audiences: positioning Farnborough Airport as a ‘Bespoke Gateway’ – a place where award-winning design, unparalleled service and state-of-the-art facilities take flight.
To signpost this intent, we distanced ourselves from the ‘technicolour’ visual language typical of the aviation field, opting instead for a ‘cinematic noir’ black & white photographic style – to conjure up a sense of luxury, rare quality and elegant dynamism – paired with detailed shots to further capture the mood and atmosphere.
The brand’s visual language was enriched with a secondary serif font, interpreted throughout the layouts with a dynamic typographic flair – echoing the award-winning architecture as well as the constant sense of movement.
The final result successfully brings to life a narrative arc through elegant movement and considered composition, portraying a sense of departure, journey and arrival through beautiful, rarefied spaces.
