Air Force One's Iconic Livery Was Co-designed By This Legendary Car Designer

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What do nan Studebaker Avanti and Air Force One person successful common? They beryllium their quality to nan aforesaid person. In 1962, French-born designer Raymond Loewy collaborated pinch President John F. Kennedy to create nan creation that has go nan signature livery for Air Force One. (The term "Air Force One" tin mention to immoderate level carrying nan president, but it's employed present to picture vehicles officially equipped for statesmanlike transport.)

Loewy's résumé suggests he was some a jack of each trades and a maestro of many. After starting his profession arsenic a manner illustrator, he pivoted to business creation and has been credited pinch a scope of successful designs for products including, but not constricted to, refrigerators, Lucky Strike cigaret packaging, Coca-Cola bottles and vending machines, and of course, cars and planes.

Loewy was designing cars arsenic early arsenic nan 1930s, decades earlier he hatched nan thought of overhauling nan statesmanlike plane's appearance. His workplace first assisted pinch designs for nan Hupmobile, and aft World War II Loewy provided designs to Studebaker for respective of its cars pinch nan thief of Virgil Exner, his main automotive designer. Loewy and his squad are straight responsible for nan unmistakable look of cars for illustration nan Studebaker Avanti and Starliner, among others. The characteristic and striking quality of these designs foreshadowed Loewy's early occurrence successful co-redesigning different iconic proscription device: nan president's Boeing 707.

From his location successful Palm Springs, California, Raymond Loewy could spot planes landing astatine nan adjacent airport. In 1962, during nan presidency of John F. Kennedy, Loewy witnessed nan landing of nan statesmanlike plane. "I was unimpressed by nan gaudy reddish exterior markings and ... nan amateurish graphics of Air Force One," he is quoted arsenic saying successful Andrew Cohen's 2016 book, "Two Days successful June: John F. Kennedy and nan 48 Hours that Made History." 

Loewy communicated his utter distaste for nan creation to his well-connected friend and adjutant to President Kennedy, Air Force Gen. Godfrey McHugh . McHugh past informed Loewy that a caller Air Force One was astir to beryllium constructed. Impeccable timing.

Loewy offered to supply designs for a caller Air Force One for free and nan president, known for his intentionality successful curating his image, accepted. Loewy generated sketches pinch nan extremity of making nan craft much distinguished, modern, and blase — successful different words, fresh for a leader — and nan president provided important creation input arsenic well. Kennedy asked that nan colour strategy beryllium bluish (for his favourite color, and for nan Democratic Party) and nan font beryllium Caslon (to emulate nan Declaration of Independence's title). Loewy artfully wove these requests into nan first type of nan Air Force One livery we cognize today, which went into work that year.

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Loewy's creation for Air Force One was wide praised upon its merchandise successful nan 1960s and has remained comparatively unchanged successful nan years since, though it should beryllium noted President Donald Trump has projected much important deviations to nan original design, both during his first word and successful 2025. The livery's lifespan frankincense acold demonstrates Loewy's penchant for creating memorable images; contempt nan Studebaker Avanti and Air Force One having fewer definitive similarities, his creation engagement successful each seems to person cemented some arsenic proscription legends, astatine slightest from an aesthetics standpoint.

Though Studebaker yet collapsed, nan cars it's known for unrecorded connected arsenic iconic visuals and 1 could reason this is mostly owed to Loewy's instantly recognizable shapes and angles. The Avanti is striking, quirky, and downright weird, but it's besides unforgettable. Its agelong chemoreceptor and stubby trunk were design influences for later cars that utilized akin shapes, for illustration nan Mustang. Loewy moreover believed nan Avanti's creation inspired a homemade streetcar recovered successful Moscow, though this is up for debate.

Loewy's expertise to captivate done creation transcends industries, products, and moreover time. The breadth of his expertise has fixed america reasonable grounds to subordinate nan president's individual pitchy to a weird small car, and that successful itself is capable to certify him arsenic a legendary automotive designer.