So, it looks like Delta’s got a new look! Their coming out of bankruptcy this week spawned a new brand with a spankin’ new “widget” icon. My friend Chad is a HUGE airline buzz geek, and he’s been following the development pretty closely:

“So you know (or maybe you don’t) that I’m a big airline nerd…. So with Delta’s emergence from bankruptcy yesterday – I’m wondering what you think, as the only branding expert/graphic designer I know, of Delta’s new look – the redesign of the fabled “Widget” in an all red scheme as opposed to red and blue, the new DELTA font, the new look for the plane’s paint jobs (cropping the widget on the tail), etc…”

I couldn’t help but recall the famous “frowning” icon they sported in 2000. They carried it for a few years with so much negative feedback, that they reverted to the previous mark. Talk about a waste of a few million dollars. I haven’t been following the revamp of 2007 very closely, but I hope that they did their marketing research before jumping on the 3D icon bandwagon. Overall, I think the realignment is nice, safe but adhering to classic form. It’s good to see them starting over fresh, and I’d hate to see them regress for criticism…