So Long, Ted

We learned yesterday that our longtime client United Airlines was closing down its low cost carrier, Ted. Like so many other airlines, United is consolidating in the face of brutally high fuel costs; integrating its operations in this way will permit substantial savings.

Coming up with the name and design philosophy for Ted in 2004 remains one of our favorite projects. United was looking for a name that would identify their new initiative to offer reduced-fare travel on selected routes in a casual, personal, friendly setting. Naming exercises often can be exhausting and inconclusive. What fun it was instead to discover that a friendly-sounding person had been hiding all along in United’s last three letters.

Pentagram’s work included aircraft liveries, signage, gate environments, and on-board communications, all executed in record time in collaboration with a great team at United. Ted, we’ll miss you.