• The A350F’s distinctive launch livery turns the freighter into a giant parcel, using shipping labels, barcodes, opening indicators and cargo-related graphics to communicate its purpose in an instantly recognisable way.
• Airbus selected designs from Dublin graphic designer John Feehan and Canadian brothers Quinnten and Ellisten Iverson, combining elements of both into the final aircraft livery. Feehan was inspired to enter by his aviation-enthusiast son Charlie, while the Iverson brothers drew on their lifelong passion for aircraft.
• The designers saw the competition as an opportunity to make the A350F distinctive and accessible to everyone, from cargo professionals and customers to children. For the winners, seeing their ideas transformed from competition entries into a flying Airbus was an emotional and unprecedented experience.

There are few aircraft liveries that explain an aeroplane’s purpose quite as perfectly as the new Airbus A350F. Rather than relying on a conventional airline-style identity, the aircraft has been turned into an enormous parcel, complete with the visual language of the global freight industry.

The idea originated through a public competition launched by Airbus for the A350F’s launch livery, which attracted thousands of entries. Airbus ultimately selected two winning concepts and combined elements from both to create the design now carried by the aircraft.

For one of the winners, John Feehan, a graphic designer from Dublin, the starting point was almost straightforward: make the aeroplane look like a package, using the visual cues of parcels and shipping labels to communicate what the A350F had been designed to do, while introducing a playful element into what could otherwise have been a highly technical aircraft programme.

“We just wanted to look outside the box. I didn’t think Airbus would go for it but they did. We made it look like a package. Simple. It’s actually unbelievable to see it take to the skies. We saw the photographs from the last week or two with the tests and thought ‘Wow. Look at this’ but to see it in the flesh, performing a fly past. It’s unbelievable. Dream come true,” Feehan explained, having been encouraged to enter by his son Charlie, an aviation enthusiast.

“My son Charlie wants to pursue a career in aviation, so he got the whole family together, making us very pro-aviation now. He saw the competition online because that’s his thing, so he said, ‘Dad, are you really going to enter this competition?’ so I did.”

The second winning entry came from Canadian brothers Quinnten and Ellisten Iverson, whose own relationship with aviation stretches back to childhood. The brothers collect miniature aircraft and have ambitions of becoming pilots, making the opportunity to influence the appearance of a real Airbus particularly significant.

Their proposal introduced graphic features including barcodes, indicators showing where a package might be opened and larger A350F branding. For the brothers, the strength of the concept lies partly in its ability to communicate without requiring specialist aviation knowledge. The aircraft announces its role through a visual metaphor that can be understood immediately, whether viewed by someone working in logistics, an aviation professional or a child seeing the freighter overhead.

“Yeah, it’s very well. It’s good outreach. It kind of touches all bases of the market, it’s professional. It makes sense to shareholders, customers. It’s unique, but sleek to adults, and even for kids. You know, you see that that’s something that stands out. That’s something you don’t see every day. So it appeals to everybody, which I think is great,” Quinnten Iverson stated. “Well, I think the functionality of it is as a cargo aircraft, so making it a passion box has a nice, fun, and professional way to communicate that Airbus is in the freighter game.”

“It’s not every day you get to design the livery of an aircraft taking like first time. I think it’s an incredible honour. It’s almost hard to put into words the feeling. It’s almost it’s very surreal, almost like a dream that this aircraft’s behind me. But to see that actually there really, really is a special feeling,” Ellisten stated. “This is very innovative. This is the first time any aircraft manufacturer has done something like this or had an opportunity open to the public. So yeah, being at the forefront of that kind of the first in line is just an absurd experience, and I’m so glad to be in the position I am.”

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