Plan a trip. Book a flight. Head to “the airport,” right? Nope. Not in the crowded airspace around metropolitan Philadelphia, where travelers have many airport options from which to choose, especially for international travel. So, airports like Philadelphia International (PHL to flyers-in-the-know) must compete both for travelers and airlines to fill its gates. (Who knew, right?) In the summer of 2020, when public accommodations slowly began to re-open during the Coronavirus pandemic, PHL needed to ramp up its communication to travelers and airlines about its services to both, and, critically, safety for staff, airline crews, and travelers.
Malish & Pagonis has worked for PHL for years, building on messages, themes, a photo library, color palettes, typography choices, and more. But this time all bets were off. For example, the bulk of the photo library was immediately obsolete, once mask mandates were put in place. The client provided “messaging pillars” like “Determination: We are fighting for our business partners,” and “Safety: We’re cleaning and distancing, and doing everything we need to do to keep you safe.” We designed the rest, all to be put into the hands of the airport’s communication staff for implementation.
The comprehensive graphic standards guide we produced for this NonstopPHL campaign, specified every visual aspect of the campaign and how these elements related to each of the 11 messaging pillars. (It’s really good! We expect to be flooded with awards for this one!) This visual guide included:
- A campaign logo, showing its use in every situation;
- A new typographic system, which we designers call WordMarks, using public domain typefaces to avoid paying font royalties;
- An extended color palette, based on the one in use;
- The brand guide, which we wrote and designed;
- The results of a full day, masked, and socially distanced onsite photo shoot, with the staff photographer and Peter Olson, just about the best photographer in the business;
- Several purpose-specific finished pieces such as:
- PowerPoint templates;
- Formats for Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn social media—primary communication channels;
- Ads for many uses including traditional billboards and digital screens throughout the airport; and;
- Zoom backgrounds, to control the visual message in a suddenly crucial communication medium.
Airports aren’t the only businesses that need to fly every day. If you want your business to soar above the crowd with powerful, meaningful graphic communications, take off with us. You’ll want to fasten your seatbelt.
