May 05th, 2010 6:01 PM
Surf the friendly skies
We were thrilled to win a competitive pitch for the refreshing of Sydney Airport’s airline marketing collateral and even more fired up about putting our “Get on Board” concept into action. Our first major project was the design of a corporate brochure to build new and existing relationships with airlines, traditionally very dry pieces of corporate literature focusing on airport infrastructure.
But Sydney, as a hub, offers something most other cities in the world can’t – our unique outdoor lifestyle. So for us, this brochure needed to use the city itself as a selling tool for the airport. We wanted to realise the idea of the true Sydney visually and reflect our famously cosmopolitan, confident and easy-going personality in the design philosophy, engaging the reader with an exciting sense of vibrancy.
A surfboard is an image which neatly sums up everything that’s great about the Sydney lifestyle and as a visual device on the cover, dovetails cleverly with our “Get on Board” theme. Turn the board upside down and the upturned fin echoes the tailfin of an aircraft, making a strong visual statement about the lifestyle story to be revealed inside.
With 90,000 passengers a day, Sydney Airport is the world’s 33rd busiest, as well as its oldest international gateway, just some of the many awe inspiring statistics we’ve used in an editorial style to open the document, pulling the reader in with an initial ‘big bang’. Clever copywriting and bold typography in various layers, the use of pull quotes and extended captions, makes these facts heroic – anything but the data-heavy annual report style presentation of convention. Vibrant colour, imagery and type is employed throughout the brochure, which includes features on the airport’s physical location, business traveller and tourism markets, an historical timeline and a network map created with rainbow-hued bars, to lighten the dense information with an evocative, unmistakably Sydney feel.
Rounding off the piece is a curated photo essay designed to encapsulate the very essence of Sydney, as seen through the eyes of some of the city’s most talented photographers. We called for submissions and received over 1000 entries, which were narrowed down to a selection that powerfully showcases the many facets of Sydney and its enviable way of life. Accompanied by narrative from the artists detailing why their selected shot sums up Sydney for them, this folio of photography becomes postcards of Sydney, encouraging recipients to keep-sake the brochure.
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