Germanwings was a German low-cost airline based in Cologne, operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group. The airline ceased operations on April 7, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic restructuring. Its most recognizable visual identity, introduced in late 2012, centered on a stylized “W” symbol in blackberry and yellow.
Design and History
In December 2012, Germanwings unveiled a new corporate design ahead of a major repositioning. The airline was preparing to take over Lufthansa’s point-to-point European routes outside the Frankfurt and Munich hubs, and the new identity was developed to bridge the premium positioning of Lufthansa with Germanwings’ own self-confident character [1]. The corporate design, including the logo, aircraft livery, and airport branding, was developed by KW43 BRANDDESIGN, the corporate design specialist of the GREY Group in Düsseldorf, following a successful pitch in 2012 [2]. The work earned KW43 an award in the “Corporate Design Relaunch” category at the Corporate Design Preis 2013 [3].
The first aircraft in the new livery, an Airbus A319 nicknamed “Tango Whiskey,” landed at Cologne Bonn Airport on December 19, 2012 [4]. The fleet was repainted gradually, with the full rollout tied to the launch of the new brand concept on July 1, 2013 [5].
Meaning and Symbolism
The central element of the new logo was a stylized “W” in blackberry and yellow, designed to transfer the “Wings” from the Germanwings name into a distinctive icon [6]. The symbol was chosen to represent the wings of the brand [5]. Through gradients and transparencies, the forms gained volume and interlocked to create the “W,” the initial of the word “wings” [7].
The colors used were blackberry and yellow, which were described as Germanwings’ existing house colors [8]. The yellow also connected the identity to the Lufthansa parent brand, while the blackberry shade gave Germanwings its own character [9].
Typography and Design
The Germanwings wordmark was set in Helvetica, the same typeface used by Lufthansa, as an expression of belonging to the parent company [7]. The aircraft livery was also aligned with Lufthansa’s design language, with the name set in the Lufthansa typeface and the belly of the aircraft kept grey like the parent airline’s planes [8].
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