I think we just found out where Lufthansa’s yellow accent went… Introducing Discover Airlines

It might have been a long time coming, infact, we’ve known about this rebrand for a while, but Eurowings Discover has finally broken free of its Eurowings shackles to become an airline in it’s own right. And yes, yet another airline in Lufthansa’s grand arsenal of airline brands. Pitched clearly as a competitor to rival German leisure airline Condor, this is a young leisure airline that has just revealed its clear new identity.

The first Airbus A320 in the new design with the registration D-AIUR landed in Frankfurt this morning and will fly guests to Palma de Mallorca for the first time on 06 September. From the press release the airline states: “The Discover Airlines brand stands for the joy of travelling, discovering and rediscovering beautiful places and experiences. The design is therefore inspired by colours and elements that evoke holidays and arouse wanderlust. The different shades of blue, the so-called “skylines”, pick up on the colours of the sky, the horizon and the water, sun and beach can be found in yellow accents. The gradient of colours is reminiscent of the view from the airplane window to the horizon or the view of the sea.”

It’s a very literal translation, but the simplicity of the design resonates in an otherwise crowded market place. It’s interesting to see Condor’s vertical stripes in direct contrast to Discover’s Horizontal ones. Let the battle of the stripes begin perhaps?

While the blue colour scheme and the typeface standsfor quality and the connection to the Lufthansa Group, whats clear is the correct use of the yellow accent in contrast, something we’ve mentioned before is seriously lacking in the parent Lufthansa brand.

The “discover” lettering in lowercase letters and with a dot is retained as a word mark. It has been an integral part of the brand identity since the beginning and will be supplemented by the addition of “Airlines” in the future. The dot is a recurring design element and can be found, among other things, present on the tail unit of the aircraft.

Despite the independence of the new design, the connection with the Lufthansa Group is clear. For example, the lettering “Member of Lufthansa Group” can be found on both sides of the fuselage. In addition, the tail unit is optically extended to the lower fuselage by a straight white line, the so-called “Leading Edge”.

I have to say, I like the livery, its well balanced and the tail-fin is both contemporary and will be easily recognisable. It’s also got good synergy with the master Lufthansa brand, with both the circle and dark blue elements clearly connecting the two. I wish the discover wordmark was perhaps a little less obvious. Lowercase type = friendly and accessible, and bold clean sans serifs are trademarks of contemporary, but it’s almost a little too obvious, but it’s hemmed in by the restrictions of the Lufthansa typeface. For a leisure-based airline it’s the one in the group that should be allowed to break free from this heavy-handed brand ruling.

It seems that the airline isn’t reinventing the interiors, much like Condor did, instead dressing with trim the new brand colours against the existing grey backdrop. Although when new aircraft enter the fleet, I look forward to seeing how the airline can further bring this brand to life in a more holistic physical brand story.

While the brand video shows deckchairs and flip-flops, the chances are the branding elements we will see will be limited to airport, aircraft and digital ecosystems, but what will be interesting to see is if the brand really punches its weight in out of home marketing, as that’s where the airline’s brand can really soar.

www.discover-airlines.com

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