I Just Flew In. And Boy Are My Arms Tired.
When I say fun on airplanes, I really mean on airplanes.
Kulula Airlines (a South African low-fare airline) clearly gets the idea of playful design. Take a gander.
Highlights (see more photos):
- “fuel tanks (the go-go juice)”
- “the big cheese (‘captain, my captain’)”
- “jump seat (for wannabe pilots)”
- “loo (or mile-high club initiation chamber)”
- “rudder (the steering thingy)”
- “landing gear (comes standard with supa-fly mags)”
- “black box (which is actually orange)”
Forget Shamu airplanes or special edition tails painted like the American Southwest. This is way better.
Playful Design. A New Design Movement?
It’s common to differntiate historical movements in design — Art Deco, Bauhaus, Neo Classicism, Modernism, etc. I’ve noticed in recent history (especially the past decade) that there’s been a general trend in advertising, architecture, art, music, etc. toward something that is on the whole much more playful than that which came before. Case in point? This Kulula jet’s jokey neon green livery (or even note the smile’s about page).
Think about it. What are the things you pass around online with your friends and family and coworkers? What are your favorite commercials? What style of marketing communication on packages or billboards best draws your attention? I argue that a significant portion of those things we most respond to — at least at this point in history — are rooted in playfulness. So, why not embrace playfulness as a defined component of the design process?
(via Chris Rawlinson: The Gentleman’s Log)
Addendum: I suspect there’s a correlation between this trend I note above and the incorporation of the Internet into mainstream culture. I’ll leave the relationship of the two and the accompanying cultural dynamics for way smarter people to comment upon.