News

Is it a bird? Is it a plane?

Published 4 May 2012

The new livery for British Airways planes flying in teams for the Olympics this summer, has been designed by University of Brighton visiting lecturer Pascal Anson. Pascal was chosen by British Airways as part of its Great Britons Olympic programme - a competition with the aim of promoting British talent in the run up to the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Turner prize-nominated artist Tracey Emin was on the judging panel which picked Mr Anson's design from hundreds of entries last July and she has mentored Pascal throughout the project. Tracey was on hand at the unveiling.

Tracy Emin and Pascal Anson in front of an A319 with Anson's design

Tracy Emin and Pascal Anson in front of an A319 with the new livery
Courtesy of N. Morrish, British Airways

Inspired by planes he saw flying in and out of Gatwick, Anson said that as a three-dimensional designer, he wanted to turn something ordinary into something extraordinary, while playing with people's perceptions of flying objects. The design of the plane, which will be in service for six years, involves using the cockpit for a beak, fuselage and wings for the main body, and the tailfin as a tail. The aircraft has been painted white with gold strokes of paint to represent the feathers.

Unveiling the first Dove, an Airbus A319, at BA's engineering bay at Heathrow airport, Emin said: "The first time I saw Pascal's design, it made me smile. The plane is universal. Everyone will understand it.

"I like the way it brings back the excitement of travel too. I will constantly be looking up every time I hear a plane fly over. You never know, maybe I will turn into a plane-spotter."

Brighton based Pascal chose the dove because as well as being a symbol of peace and social unity, it was used in ancient Olympics as a messenger to send Games reports to outlying villages, and the bird also played a role in Olympics ceremonies such as that at the last London Games in 1948.

He wanted to use a metallic colour but metallic paints are not allowed on aircraft as they interfere with radar signal so a new mica resin was mixed to give the bright gold finish - a colour that the team have dubbed "dove gold".

This project created both design and artistic challenges, in terms of scale - as an A319 is 500 times larger than a dove - and surface, in terms of trying to get the soft lines of the dove's feathers onto the hard metallic surface of the plane.

BA's operations manager for external appearance, David Barnes, said the job was the most complex his team had undertaken - both because of the intricacy of the design, and the fact that it encompassed the whole plane.

Pascal said: “To create something like that which is going to last so long, that will be seen by so many people, is something I could only dream about.”

Visit Pascal’s blog for more information including a time-lapse video of the new design being applied. ordinarymadeextraordinary.wordpress.com