American Airlines

When American Airlines launched its first brand transformation in more than 40 years, the mandate was clear: create a modern, unified identity that could stand tall in a new era of global aviation. This was not a logo update—it was a complete reimagining of how one of the world’s largest airlines shows up across every touchpoint, from aircraft to apps.

I played a central role in bringing this vision to life, guiding the digital and cross-channel creative execution of one of the largest rebrands in airline history

Rebranding an icon

The Challenge

American Airlines needed to overhaul every facet of its brand while operating at full global scale.

The complexity was immense.

  • Develop a brand strategy and identity that honored its heritage while capturing the timeless spirit of modern America.

  • Aligning leadership, unions, agencies, and global partners

  • Ensuring the brand was applied and activated seamlessly across every touchpoint of a global airline — digital, physical, operational, and customer-facing.

  • Launching the new brand globally—simultaneously

The Approach

Bringing the New Visual Identity to Life

I lead creative direction for the bold new identity developed in partnership with Futurebrand—ensuring it translated with clarity, consistency, and emotional impact at a global scale across digital, advertising, environmental, and even the aircraft livery.

This included building standards, defining applications, and guiding teams through an unprecedented creative shift.

Steering a Massive Cross-Functional Transformation

Partnering closely with Futurebrand and internal creative, digital, and marketing teams, I navigated the complexity of:

  • Development of the new visual identity: logo, colors, typography, imagery, graphical elements, iconography

  • Coordinating hundreds of creative deliverables

  • Guiding cross-discipline alignment

  • Solving design and communication challenges at enterprise scale

Securing Enterprise-Wide Alignment

To unify the organization, I presented the strategy and visual identity to:

  • The C-suite

  • Global employees from corporate teams to frontline union groups

  • Global alliance partners

  • Marketing and agency teams worldwide

These presentations built the understanding, trust, and momentum needed to carry the brand forward.

The Impact

The rebrand became a defining moment for American Airlines—one that signaled a return to strength and set the tone for its future.

Results included:

  • A globally consistent brand expression adopted across thousands of touchpoints

  • A unified digital ecosystem that reflected the new identity from day one

  • Strong alignment from leadership to frontline teams

  • A modern, revitalized brand presence for one of the most recognized airlines in the world

American’s new brand identity has won a Clio award for Brand Identity design and was a finalist for the 2013 Fast Company Innovation by Design awards.

American posted the biggest buzz increase in the airline industry, jumping 11.4 points year over year. Nationally, it ranked #4 across all U.S. brands for overall buzz improvement with an 8.1-point gain.

American Airlines

A digital transformation, in one day

American understood digital would play a major role in the launch of their new brand. American’s digital touch points reach millions of customers a day, and American wanted to ensure the new brand was reflected in every part of the digital customer journey.

Leading Digital Creative Across All Platforms

I oversaw the creative development for all customer-facing digital experiences—aa.com, mobile web, mobile apps, and airport infrastructure.

I led eight development teams to implement the new identity across American’s entire digital ecosystem, delivering:

  • New visual direction

  • New UX patterns

  • New content standards

  • Fully redesigned interfaces

All culminating in the unprecedented launch of the brand—rolled out globally in a single day.

Digital platforms included:

- American’s corporate website - aa.com
- 5000 network-wide self-service kiosks
- Mobile apps, both iOS and Android
- System-wide gate displays
- Over 20 marketing emails
- All social media touch points
- Corporate Intranet