On Board With Design

United Airlines began in 1929 as a conglomerate of aircraft manufacturing and air transport companies, from which the airline, as well as manufacturers United Aircraft and Boeing, would emerge. United Airlines saw its first design overhaul in 1955, when noted industrial designer Raymond Loewy was hired to work on elements as varied as aircraft and terminal interiors, aircraft liveries, and flight attendant uniforms. In 1961, Loewy created a slanted pyramid logo which, along with a standardization of the airline’s shield logo that had been in use in various forms since 1936, was used by the airline into the 1970s.

The United Airlines tulip logo was designed in 1974 by Saul Bass, best known as the designer of film posters and opening title sequences including Psycho, North by Northwest, and The Man with the Golden Arm. Bass had worked with United a decade earlier on the short film From Here to There, which was shown at the New York World’s Fair of 1964, and he was also responsible for rebranding efforts for companies including Continental Airlines and Bell Telephone. The tulip logo was in use, in one form or another, until United merged with Continental in 2010.

Items in the exhibit are housed at Northwestern University’s Transportation Library. Email transportationlibrary@northwestern.edu with questions, or to schedule an appointment.