Fly high: Otherness’ tasteful brand world lets luxury private airline Aero take flight in style

When Otherness, an Amsterdam and NYC-based creative studio was brought on to flesh out the visual universe of luxury private airline, Aero, a few things were already in place. The logo, typefaces and colours of the brand, for example, were defined. “There was also a base set of photos of Aero’s jets, some mockups, and a one-pager on tone of voice,” says Founder & Creative Director Joel Derksen. The brand, though, was incomplete. With just the foundational pieces in place, it was up to Otherness to conjure a complete, comprehensive brand world that would tell the full story of Aero.

“What we inherited were the basics and some mockups gesturing towards what the brand could be, without having gone through the exercise of actually producing much work,” Derksen tells us. “The gap between mockups and real-life execution is always quite large, but doubly so when you start applying the broader business strategy, seasonal changes, budgets, and integrate everything into a very orchestrated, luxury service experience.”

Digging down into the basic structure of the brand, Otherness first defined the strategy, alongside its brand strategy partner, Heuristic Branding. Once they identified who was flying with Aero and why, the process naturally led them to understand how to speak to that audience. With photography being a central pillar of the brand system, the studio defined the guidelines, which helped them pin down the Aero gaze. “What we look for in an Aero shoot is a sense of the ‘insider’s eye,’ the intimate feeling that someone knows the best kept secret in a destination, and also has the taste to elevate that secret,” adds Derksen. “We also focused on evoking the senses, or a truth about the destination, like emphasising the raw beauty of the wild horses found in Jackson Hole. It isn’t the place itself, but those who love Jackson Hole and fly there regularly will know the reference immediately.”

The way the photos were shot and the ideas they reflected were important, as the images became the focal point of an important brand element – the boarding passes. “We custom-designed the boarding passes and tickets over a six-month process, testing them with the ground crew and concierge,” explains Derksen. Speaking to the brand’s premium tone, the boarding passes took a rather unusual approach – with folded flaps, the pass features an iconic shot of the destination on its cover, while passenger details remain tucked inside the passport along with other personal information, such as boarding requests and luggage count. “The boarding pass also has notched corners to hold card-based ID (like a driver’s license) for domestic flights in the USA,” says Derksen. “This is a completely new form factor for boarding passes that we developed based on the needs of the concierge team and their requirements when handling an increased volume of flights.”

The photo-first approach has its advantages – with distinct photos for each destination, the design allows baggage carriers to sort luggage within seconds, while also letting the boarding concierge steer guests the right way swiftly. It also makes space for seasonal changes. “Every year or so, the Los Cabos shot could be changed to keep it fresh, without a huge overhead or change in operations. Bespoke passes could be created quickly for private bookings. People who fly with Aero tend to fly frequently, so having the winter and summer photo for Aspen was an Instagrammable moment.”

While Otherness worked with the inherited colour palette – hues picked from a sunset seen through the window of a jet – and the typeface – Neue Haas Unica that speaks to the brand’s inherent minimalism – the team made some key decisions about how brand elements would be used. “We worked on structuring the brand in context and around the guests’ needs. The brand mockups (where we started) advocated for separating the window symbol and the wordmark, for example, which is something we walked back on; keeping those two together is really important in a busy/confusing travel situation where you’re in an unfamiliar place. The two needed to join as a unit to minimise cognitive load,” explains Derksen.

Responsible for crafting both the macro and micro considerations, elements and objects, Otherness ultimately fleshed out the entire visual experience of the brand and ensured it translated to every touchpoint – “pilot wings, pins, name tags, give-away pieces such as the totes and caps, every thank-you card, invitation, coaster, brand collaboration, children’s colouring book (yes!), wine pairing guide, menu, and ad-buy,” Derksen sums up. “Over the course of our time together, I believe we shipped over 200 to 300 pieces of creative for the airline.”