Moving Brands partnered with the private jet company Greenjets to create a brand identity for a radically new service poised to forever change long-entrenched perceptions of private jet travel. Co-founded by Uber founder Garrett Camp and powered by a Moving Brands-designed app, BlackJet allows a wider market of luxury travellers to book individual seats on private planes instantly, at the touch of an iPhone. The disruptive new brand presents unprecedented competition to commercial airlines by offering all of the luxury and convenience of private jet travel at a price point comparable to their first and business classes (and with the invaluable added benefit of avoiding all of the traditional hassles of the airport).
Story
“BlackJet is all about building an aspirational brand. Moving Brands got that immediately and delivered pitch perfect strategy for building Blackjet into a global brand. This is why Moving Brands has been a perfect partner.”
— Shervin Pishevar, Menlo Ventures
The narrative we created for the new BlackJet brand is the story of the new private jet flyer. The best commercial airlines in the world can offer any number of amenities to first class passengers once they are on board, but they have no control over the experience of getting to the gate. Passengers who spend thousands of dollars for extra legroom and complimentary champagne have become increasingly frustrated with still having to deal with parking, shuttles, fees for checked bags and long lines at security.
As a result, flying private has evolved to be less about status, exclusivity and image and more about avoiding the time-consuming inconveniences and indignities of the airport experience that all commercial travellers (including those in first class) have to endure. It’s less about excessive luxury, more about living with intention; less about living the good life at any cost, more about living the good life well; less about exclusivity, more about syncing travel with the momentum of life.
BlackJet created a brilliant and affordable private jet service that doesn’t cannibalize Greenjets’ existing charter market by selling individual seats on the bevy of empty jets returning from one-way flights. Moving Brands identified a growing market of stylish, busy and tech-savvy first and business-class travellers. We developed a UX that contradicts everything you expect from the frustrating, time-consuming chaos of commercial travel — a frictionless, ultra simple UI that enables secure high value transactions on a mobile device. Our strategy of simplicity-as-luxury informed a short form brand narrative that speaks directly to the core benefits of flying private: BlackJet — for a colorful life.
System
The visual identity Moving Brands developed for BlackJet is bold, confident and elegant. The “B” is abstracted, drawing directly from the design direction’s concept of the fast, frictionless journey. It takes the subtle shape of wings, both in the positive space created by the curves of the “B” and the negative space, which reveals the sleek nose and wings of a jet. A moody, sexy, monochromatic color palette and contrasting, geometric font further advance the personality of the brand and differentiate its identity from its competitors.
The user interface was designed after extensive research into trends and methodologies in communicating luxury on digital platforms and executing high-value mobile money payments. Our findings revealed that what high-value consumers truly want is hurdle-free instant gratification. Simply put: they want what they want when they want it. Through seamless design and a pared-down, no-frills interface, simplicity is luxury.
The resulting UI ensures reliability and purchasing safety while maintaining the elegant simplicity of iPhone functionality.
Experience
Moving Brands developed the visual identity system, UI and guidance needed to create a website and app for BlackJet that feels intuitive in its navigation, comfortable in its use and inherently sleek and luxurious. The service launched in October 2012 to an invite-only crowd of initial fliers and has garnered positive press for both its innovative offering and A-list roster of Silicon Valley and Hollywood VCs.
Moving Brands elsewhere on Identity Designed: Arcadia, Watermark, CX.
More from Moving Brands.
