Jetstar Logo PNG
Jetstar is an Australian budget airline company owned by Qantas, Australia’s flag carrier. Its primary focus is the domestic network. The company’s fleet, which comprises around 65 aircraft, combines the Airbus A320 family and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Meaning and history
The Jetstar logo isn’t evocative or symbolic. It just represents the name of the brand in a rather straightforward way. While the logo is based on rather run-of-the-mill typography and imagery, it is effective and in no way misleading.
2003 – 2012, 2003 – present (tail ensign)
The history of the company can be traced back to late 2001, when Qantas purchased Impulse Airlines. Originally, Qantas operated its newly acquired airline under the name QantasLink. In 2003, they decided to re-launch the brand as Jetstar.
The earliest logo wasn’t as straightforward as the current one. Only the first part of the name, Jet, was present in the logo, whereas the word “star” was replaced by a stylized star.
The type was a simple, highly legible sans. While only the initial was capitalized, it didn’t tip off the balance between the left-hand and right-hand parts of the design because the letter “t” looked almost as high.
We can’t say that the wordmark looks stylish or unique. It almost certainly doesn’t contain anything that makes the design recognizable. Vice versa, the letters are generic. What’s more, they do not merge well. You get the feeling that it had been possible to slightly tweak the glyphs to make them look like part of a single whole.
The letters don’t echo the shape of the emblem. The star is tilted, whereas the glyphs are straight, and there are no additional details that “rhyme” with the angles of the star.
What is Jetstar
Founded in 2003, Jetstar Airways Pty Ltd is a low-cost airline based in Australia. Its main hubs are Melbourne Airport and Sydney Airport, and there are four more additional hubs. The parent company is Quantas.
On a more positive note, the wordmark features a highly legible type that can be easily read even from a larger distance.
The star, which is the second part of the Jetstar logo, also looks rather generic. It’s a five-pointed star standing on two of its points. This position makes it somewhat similar to the human figure with the top point representing the head and the points on the right and on the left representing the hands.
The choice of color, red, is noteworthy. It makes the emblem even more similar to one of the main symbols of the USSR, a red five-pointed star. If not for the slight tilt and a subtle difference in the shade of red, it would have been identical to the symbol of the USSR.
2012 – present
The logo became easier to understand as it now contains the full name of the brand. When someone who didn’t know the name saw the previous logo, he or she could have thought that it was just “Jet,” not “Jetstar” – the picture of the star wasn’t enough. The updated version doesn’t leave any room for such ambiguity.
Other than that, the logo has remained pretty much the same. The letters had to be made smaller, which didn’t affect their original shape.
Colors and font
The unpretentious sans doesn’t help to make the Jetstar logo memorable. Yet, its classic shapes provide adequate legibility.
The bright red star adds an eye-catching accent. Then again, the color is very popular and is widely used in logo design and product design.
