Solaseed Air

A brand transformation project for Solaseed Air—“the wings of Kyushu” and an airline known for its warmth and hospitality.
Led by a cross-functional team of emerging young leaders, the project redefined the brand’s identity and contributed to the company’s corporate renewal.

Mission

At the launch of the project, the initial request from the client was to redesign the aircraft livery in line with the introduction of a new fleet—something that had not happened since the company's founding.
At the time, Skynet Asia Airways (now Solaseed Air) was undergoing corporate restructuring. With repeated changes in senior leadership, no one remained who could articulate the founding philosophy or original brand intent. The meanings behind the company name, logo, and initial aircraft design had faded. As such, redefining the brand identity—clarifying who the company was and where it was heading—emerged as a central challenge.

To lead this redefinition, a team of emerging young leaders from within the company was brought together. These future custodians of the brand were invited to take ownership of the process by formulating a new brand concept and vision through hands-on engagement.

The project team was composed of members from departments that rarely interacted in daily operations—pilots, engineers, ground staff, cabin crew, corporate planning, and communications. Through a series of workshops and in-depth discussions, they collaboratively explored and articulated a new vision and brand concept for Solaseed Air.

Solution

AXHUM undertook a comprehensive process to rediscover and clarify the brand’s value—through customer interviews, web-based research, and a series of employee workshops and listening sessions.
While many employees initially felt the airline lacked clear strengths compared to competitors, customer feedback painted a different picture. Passengers described the airline as “friendly,” “healing,” and “uplifting.” We identified that the key to these impressions was the genuine smiles of the staff—an expression deeply rooted in the character of Miyazaki and the Kyushu region.
Gradually, the brand’s core identity began to crystallise around this idea. Together with employees, we developed the concept:
“Spreading smiles from the sky.”

To express this renewed identity, we created the new name Solaseed Air and led a full redesign across all brand touchpoints.
The new logo integrates three symbolic ideas:
・people facing each other and connecting,
・a seed taking flight, and
・a smiling face in the sky.
The logotype was designed to be warm and human, enhancing approachability.
The aircraft livery was designed in collaboration with Boeing, balancing technical precision with visibility—ensuring the aircraft is instantly recognisable as Solaseed Air from a distance.
We also refreshed the interior cabin and crew uniforms through co-creation workshops, adopting a clean and modern design language.

Following the project, Solaseed Air experienced a remarkable turnaround in performance.
Route expansion and business recovery were driven by employees who took pride in leading the transformation.
They not only redefined the airline’s outward appearance, but reshaped the organisation from within—bringing about a deep, sustainable corporate renewal rooted in local identity and shared ownership.