Alitalia spa

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The trademark, as all marketing and enterprise communication manuals say, is the first and the most visible, synthetic and representative element of the identity of a firm, of a product of a body.
The trademark makes alive the enterprise and its products in time and space, the experts bear.
The trademark is communication by itself, it is the means so to communicate, as a matrix or as a warranty.
It's a signature (and as that it reflects character and personality about products). It's a commercial value becoming communication, whereas communication supports it and valorises it.
Finally it's a guide in creativity in communication.
The graphics contents indeed require coherence with the products or services it undersigns and warrants and with all the communication concerning it. THE WINGED ARROW The first Alitalia trademark “The Winged Arrow “ was chosen in 1947 among the several sketches arrived on consequence of a competence issued national level.
As a whole the “Winged arrow “ trademark did not stand out with respect to the symbols of the other airlines companies, since the representation was got by mixing the most common aeronautic symbols: the bow and the arrow.

The Alitalia logo, first full type, was changed later into a peculiar type, when the italic letters were realized by alternating blue lines.
The company, over years and due to the coming of new aeroplanes, did not neglect bringing continuous bettering to the aircraft line of its fleet.
By steps the “Winged arrow “ passed from the rudders to the museum of aeroplanes and the upper part of the fuselage was white painted.

This configuration was kept even after merging the LAI - Italian Airlines (October 31st 1957), bringing the current corporate name: Alitalia - Linee Aeree Italiane.
By introducing in the fleet the first “Jets”: Caravelle and DC8 (May 23rd 1960) it was introduced an innovation that will be kept for more the ten years and that will be a premise of the current trademark: the tail rudder becomes a real travelling national flag.
Since 1960 the continuous expansion of the company net and the renewal of the fleet, programmed so to have in few years all the “jets” aircraft, brought to identify the company, international level.
The need to update the company's image is ever more pressing since important renewals as the introduction in the fleet of high capacity aeroplanes: the Boeing B.747 (Jumbo).

THE STYLISED A In 1969, at twenty-two years from its foundation the Alitalia announces an international competition about a creative project that, throughout the elaboration of what already there is, could bring a better co-ordination of the company's institutional image.
After an attentive evaluation of the several pre-projects, the charge is entrusted finally, in May 1969, to the “WALTER LANDOR ASSOCIATED - Industrial Design” from San Francisco.
How did the new image rise?
From the starting briefing the main targets that must be achieved were that Alitalia must be identified as follows:
- an airline;
- an intercontinental company;
- one of the biggest airlines companies world wide;
- an international company working in a general way;
- a company offering a “total” service
- an evident expression of the new Italy.

The “Walter Landor” carried out also some surveys among selected groups of men, women, travel agents, reporters working in the tourist field, during which were presented a set of proposals.
The results of these surveys allowed on consequence the formulation of more than two hundred draws of symbols and logos. From a deepened study carried out with the same people three solutions were selected to be presented to the General Direction.
The three final projects, with the possible arrangements for the aeroplanes were presented in Rome on July 22nd to the Marketing Direction.
Among them one was particularly recommended and it was accepted to present it to the Board of Directors, that on august 7th the same year approved it.
The new image was officialized since that date.

On completion of its realization, the “Walter Landor” projected the “Corporate Communications Manual”, where it was exactly coded all the possible applications of the new image.
Here it is so the indication about the polychromy of the matches allowed for the trademark and the logo, the uniforms of the ground staff and air staff, the airport signal system.
Any doubt is cleared up with the indication about what must always be avoided.
The work was distributed to all the services of the company and peripheral offices so to, as soon as possible, it could be proceeded to the unification of the image, preventing at the same time that individual interpretations could thwart the effort underlying the global renewal in course.
But what does this new image want to point to, since superposing the current one?
The company's symbols is a stylised, dynamic “A”, having a great potentiality of 'hold' in the advertising and promotional campaigns.

The “A” is not only the initial letter of the name of the company, but it wants to be the synonymous of quality. The “A” is the first letter of the alphabet in almost all languages and almost all countries.
The approach of this symbol, placed on the tail rudders, with the logo “Alitalia”, placed over the fuselage in a well defined point and a clear and modern graphic line, gets the highest effect, keeping after thirty years from its creation, and at the threshold of the 2000, a strong vitality, acknowledged international level.

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