Project Narrative

In America, the interiors of airplanes are rather dull, unimpressionable spaces. Once you leave America, aircraft interiors start becoming spaces you remember. Bold colors, exciting patterns, and dynamic textures transform a mode of transportation into a design experience. China Airlines, one of the two major Chinese airlines, was working with a designer on their new Business Class design and was using Schneller as their laminate supplier. The China Airlines designer wanted to use an architectural paneling in the design for the aircraft interior. The problem was that the manufacture copyrighted the wood grain design. We created our version of this wood grain in our laminate product and matched it to their preferred color tone.

I started with a high-res scan of the original 48” x 98” wood grain panel. I had to extend it to meet our size specs of 61.5” x 98”. I spent several weeks working on revising the artwork to remove most of the distinctive portions. Once the design met legal approval that it was a unique design, we moved on to the next challenge – the color. The color that the client wanted to use did not have an exact English translation from Mandarin. The closest word in English was “Khaki,” – which in America can come in many different shades. Adding to the difficulty was that the panels would look different depending on the light (cool, warm, daylight, etc.). Eventually, the client came on-site so we could get his real-time feedback on getting the shade correct. After 20 rounds of color revisions, we reached a color that matched the client’s vision. We moved the panels into production.               

This woodgrain was heavily used in the new China Airlines’ Business Class cabins and even in their marketing. They used the wood grain in the bar area, the seats, the tray tables, and the bulkheads.