22/07/2025
Otl Aicher (1922–1991), a German graphic designer, was renowned for his systematic and minimalist design approach. In 1962, Aicher and his team, including Hans Roericht and Fritz Querengässer, redesigned the Lufthansa logo as part of a comprehensive corporate identity overhaul. The iconic crane emblem, originally created by Otto Firle in 1918, was refined into a sleek, modernist form, a stylized crane within a circle, symbolizing precision and flight. Rendered in Lufthansa’s signature blue and yellow, the logo embodied clarity and reliability. Aicher’s grid-based design system ensured consistency across all branding, cementing Lufthansa’s timeless global identity.
Otl Aicher’s sketches for the Lufthansa logo, developed with his team at the Ulm School of Design in the early 1960s, reveal an evolutionary process blending modernist simplicity with functional symbolism. Initial sketches show the transition from the original 1918 Otto Firle crane to a more abstract form, with some designs exploring a simple arrow to represent aviation’s future, as noted in design commentary. These sketches progressively refined the crane into a stylized silhouette, enclosed in a circle, emphasizing aerodynamics and clarity. Aicher’s process, documented in works like Lufthansa und Graphic Design, highlights his methodical approach, balancing tradition with innovation, though the arrow idea was ultimately set aside for the iconic crane.
