Thompson Aero Seating has something a little special planned for Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX) 2024 in Hamburg later this month: a refresh of the brand aesthetic of its demonstrator seats, expressed through a new colour, material and finish (CMF) scheme. Named Project Echo, the CMF has been developed in-house by designers at Thompson, to reflect the landscape of Northern Ireland (where the company is headquartered), as well as key trends in the industry.
Project Echo has initially been used to refresh the brand aesthetic of Thompson’s own ‘marketing’ seats, used for customer assessments at events such as AIX, but it is not mere fantasy: Thompson says all the materials used are based on ready-for-flight, certified options.
So how does one express Northern Ireland’s heritage and landscape in textile form? Thompson’s CMF team has experimented with colours and textures, with a layering of tinted darks, along with pops of brighter colours and highlights to capture the spirit of the land, and different applications for each seat model in the Thompson range. They have also looked at predicted long-term colour trends and added a contrast and energy to bring their brand aesthetic to life.
“Our aim has been to create a narrative for Thompson that is a reflection of our culture. We have interpreted colours and textures into visuals, using nature and the chemistry of its colours as our influence,” explains Belinda Mason, a CMF designer at Thompson Aero Seating. “The result is a feeling of quiet luxury.”
The CMF team strived to ensure the scheme gives the Vantage range of business-class seats has been given a visual coherence, to convey that they are part of a product range, but while still giving each model its own individuality. This further supports Thompson’s new company brand and logo, which was revealed last year.
“Our range of seats constantly evolves. Under Project Echo, we have made ourselves the client and created a unified pallet that gives alignment to each seat design, bringing them within the brand range as a whole,” adds Mason.
Project Echo can also show the advantages of standardising many of the materials used in aircraft seating. Standardisation makes the supply of materials easier to manage and gives economies of scale. That has been where Mason and her team have put in much work: using standardised materials while still ensuring that each seating product looks individual – mostly achieved through the layering of textures and colours.
Visitors to AIX can see the results for themselves, across Thompson Aero Seating’s entire range. The Vantage model has been given a pale outer shell with a darker inner core, complemented with shades of natural stone and lighter woods, for a sense of quality.
The VantageXL has been given an intense dark surround and sumptuous leather inner, for a ‘subtle confidence’, while the enhanced front-row suite conveys first class travel through deep moss-greens and velvety suedes. In a related design, the enhanced front row of the VantageSOLO seat features soft tan leather as a pop of colour.
Meanwhile the VantageDUO scheme cocoons the passenger with a dark fabric wrapping, highlighted with a lighter inner seat, premium leathers, and light stone-coloured worktops.
“We are proud to be able to showcase our CMF expertise through Project Echo, offering our customers a neutral starting point from which their own brand can be developed,” added Mason.
