There is one logo we may never see. It was a branding that Michael Bierut, partner at the New York office of Pentagram Design (Hillary H logo, new Slack Logo, NYC subway maps, etc.) shared with Smisek in the days after the merger - combing both CO and UA. Pentagram took over the Untied account in 1997 and made the Flying T and tulip we all came to love.
This website doesn't work anymore, but I did quote from it awhile ago. Wish I had saved the whole article and photos, because it included a logo for "United Loop", a proposal of which would ultimately become "Ted by United".
Originally Posted by Jessica Haas
Secondly, Bierut shared his final presentation with United for the new identity for the merger of United and Continental. Starting simply with logotypes and introducing new globes (Continental’s icon). The ideas to were for a new look yet still similar to what both United and Continental designs had. The concepts to me seemed strong and modern. In the end, United went with another design firm and by the looks of it they didn’t seem to have much creative room with the client. United basically wanted the existing Continental globe with the name United spelled out with the same typeface that Continental used in the past, with some tweaks. A safe and happy medium for the United businessmen but not for the rest of the us who see it as same old, same old. I think as designers we can all agree that United may have missed a great opportunity to reinvent themselves.
Old link:
https://newsblog.jessicahaasdesigns....nitedairlines/
I've written to Mr. Bierut multiple times but never got a response. To see what that looked like would be a great bucket list item in life, to be honest.
Here's some thoughts from a team member of Mr. Bierut's at Pentagram who worked along side him for 8 years on the United project:
Since 1997, United has retained Pentagram as its brand identity consultant. I spent eight years working on the United identity redesign and rollout and then another four years consulting alongside Michael Bierut and Daniel Weil — the partners in charge at Pentagram. To refuse to take advantage of an investment of that size — both in terms of money and braintrust — is irresponsible. Still, neither Bierut or Weil had any idea of the impending design change and found out along with the rest of us.
https://thinkso.com/news/e2-80-9cneg...a-new-identity