BRAND STRATEGY • BRAND IDENTITY DESIGN • NAMING • COPYWRITING • WEBSITE • CAMPAIGN • SOCIAL MEDIA • OUTDOOR • ENVIRONMENTAL GRAPHICS

When Kansas City’s new airport debuted in 1972 (complete with a visit by VP Spiro Agnew), it was touted as the inauguration of “space-age” travel. Sadly, it quickly became outdated during what became the “hijack age.” Retrofitted security additions wrecked the sleek lines and the original open spaces became cramped and unattractive. After September 11, 2001, it became even more bulwarked, and the need for rethinking our terminal system to offer air travelers a better experience grew more urgent with each passing year.

Thankfully, in 2017, the construction of a new single airport terminal was approved. Willoughby was brought on to help the Kansas City Aviation department create a new brand for the construction of the terminal and associated communications with a focus on a website, social and outdoor.

All around the world airport branding has become innovative, brave and beautiful, so we saw an opportunity to inject a little informative fun and energy into what is the largest infrastructure project in our city’s history.

The new terminal opened to great fanfare in February 2023 and features works of art from 28 individual artists, including 19 who live in the KC area or have local ties. More than 80 percent of brands represented in the new terminal will be local to the KC region.

And of course, there’s BBQ.

Our design exploration process involves iterating and prototyping several different big ideas to test variables including color, typography, layout, illustrations and copy. These are a few examples of some early ideation.