I’ve loved Automotive Marques since I was a kid, in fact I remember playing a game on long car journeys where I would try to name each and every passing car either by their marque in the daytime, or by the headlight position at night.
So when my good friend and collaborator Ido Baruchin told me he was designing a car I wanted to partner with him to create the marque. But this was no ordinary car. Urban Aeronautics had created a flying vehicle called the City Hawk. Its unique design and ducted fans allowing it to take of vertically in public spaces with a high degree of safety and precision.
Creating a marque is deceptively hard, more so than a logo because it sits alone, without surrounding context other than the vehicle. It must be harmonious with the vehicle but at the same time stand out. Most are simple geometric forms, or anthropomorphic abstractions of animals. Making something this simple, ownable and recognizable is a great challenge.
I started by looking at the over and under configuration of the ducted fans. Ido and I mused the thought of transcendence, the ability to fly effortlessly up to the sky is a child-like dream that was seemed more emotional. Shiri Lipinsky who was leading the project agreed and Transcendence became the focus.
A circle moving upwards leaves a negative space. The ‘Space Between’ the elevation became the marque and was also the basis for a monogram, UA. The Word-mark reiterated the vertical dots as the key to the identify system.
For color, we borrowed from Ido’s instinct of using earth tones, copper and white for the fuselage. We contrasted these earth tones with sky tones to create the palette.
I’ve been in love with Styrene, the font desired by Berton Hasebe and Ilya Ruderman since 2016. Its contrast in weights and geometric forms was a perfect complement to the system.
Unlike a car, a flying vehicle is rarely seen from the front of back. The language of the vehicle and identity overlap seamlessly. We learnt through matternet that the underside of a flying vehicle is the perfect place for iconic branding. We also used the split doors to create a moment for the marque to be functional. The interior used details from the design system.
The last project that Ido and I collaborated on was Matternet. Working with such an amazing team that you know, love and respect creates fluidity of thinking and expression. Even though we were in separate countries it was like we were sitting next to each other. Thank you so much to the Urban Aeronautics team for being so open and supportive of great design.
Team
Shiri Lipinsky – Project lead
Ido Baruchin – Vehicle Design & 3D
Marc Shillum – Identity & 2D