Upstart US airline Northern Pacific Airways recently unveiled its first plane. Here's how the aircraft's sleek paint job was designed.

Northern Pacific Airways Boeing 757 aircraft.Northern Pacific Airways

• Low-cost startup airline Northern Pacific Airways recently unveiled its first Boeing 757, complete with a unique paint job.
• The jet was designed by Edmond Huot, who wanted to create a beautiful plane with nods to Asian and Alaskan culture.

Alaska-based low-cost startup Northern Pacific Airways, which soon plans to ferry passengers between Asia and the US via Anchorage, recently unveiled its first Boeing 757 plane.

Northern Pacific Airways Boeing 757 aircraft livery.      Northern Pacific Airways

The aircraft was officially debuted in San Bernardino, California, in January, and the livery was created by Edmond Huot, founder of design agency Forward Studio.

Edmond Huot's company designed the livery.      Courtesy of Edmond Huot

Insider spoke with Huot to discuss how Northern's livery, as well as previous works, go from the first concept to the final product. He said the project took about a year, but the process begins with understanding the customer and the intended brand.

Northern Pacific Airways Boeing 757 aircraft.      Northern Pacific Airways

"We always start with research, pouring over every possible visual reference, whether its geography, historical, architectural, or textures," he said. "Then we imagine a story or thematic narrative that is purely creative, like seeing the plane as an animal, which is actually the most fun part. Then, we blend the two together."

Northern Pacific Airways Boeing 757 aircraft.      Northern Pacific Airways

Huot explained that because Northern is based in Alaska, but also plans to fly to Asia, the livery needed to represent the culture and landscape of both places. He did this through colors and patterns that highlight snow, mountains, wind, and animals.

Northern Pacific Airways Boeing 757 aircraft.      Northern Pacific Airways

Specifically, Northern's 757s are feature a dark color palette of greys and blacks, with hints of blue and green on the winglets that represent the northern lights, according to Huot.

Northern Pacific Airways Boeing 757 winglets.      Northern Pacific Airways

Meanwhile, he said the spiral design on the tail is intended to represent airflow and softness. "The livery on the front of the aircraft is quite sharp, and precise, and very pointed, so I wanted the tail to mix the softness of the lines with the stronger colors," Huot explained.

Northern Pacific Airways tail.      Northern Pacific Airways

Other features of the plane include two white lines on the engine that represent the wings of a bird and ascension...

Northern Pacific Airways Boeing 757 aircraft.      Northern Pacific Airways

..."Northern Pacific" and a giant "N" painted across the fuselage...

Northern Pacific Airways Boeing 757 aircraft.      Northern Pacific Airways

..."Northern Pacific" painted on the belly of the jet...

Northern Pacific Airways aircraft belly.      Northern Pacific Airways

...and a black outline around the cockpit windows.

Northern Pacific Airways Boeing 757 aircraft.      Northern Pacific Airways

According to Huot, this was done to modernize the older 757 plane and was a nod to the Airbus A350 jet, which commonly features the "mask" look.

Qatar Airways A350.      Jaromir Chalabala/Shutterstock

Overall, Huot explained that he thought about what would make a beautiful plane, as opposed to a wacky, fun plane, which is common to low-cost carriers.

Northern Pacific Airways Boeing 757 aircraft.      Northern Pacific Airways

While Northern does consider itself a budget airline, Huot explained that he wanted to create a design that showed the company's premium edge. Unlike other long-haul, low-cost carriers, the company's 757s will feature business class seats.

Rendering of the interior cabin.      Northern Pacific Airways

Source: NYC Aviation

"I always wanted to do something that had taste, because people want to see something beautiful and eye-catching, and I also wanted it to be identifiable in the sky," he said.

Northern Pacific Airways Boeing 757 winglets.      Northern Pacific Airways

Moreover, he said one of the overarching stories for Northern's design was "We Are All Navigators" to represent exploration and frontiersmen navigating through life and this new business.

A rendering of a Northern Pacific Airways Boeing 757 aircraft.      Northern Pacific Airways

According to Huot, Northern gave him full creativity, which is rare in his experience. He explained to Insider that airlines typically come to him looking for a specific color scheme or concept before he has started the design.

Northern Pacific Airways Boeing 757 aircraft.      Northern Pacific Airways

However, because Northern is a startup, it was imperative that he maximized the resources given to him to create the design. "Both the investors as well as the operators are extremely sensitive to how we go about spending time and money," he said. "You've got to get it right the first time."

A rendering of a Northern Pacific Airways Boeing 757 aircraft.      Northern Pacific Airways

According to Huot, the highly subjective paint designs are "massive dartboards" and can be a hot topic of discussion among aviation enthusiasts. Because of this, he says he has to understand the airline's goal and business plan to nail the correct branding.

ANA Pokemon plane livery.      Alexander Gatsenko/Shutterstock

He told Insider that certain colors should be avoided because they are too bold or not as aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

Easyjet plane livery.      Doubleclix/Shutterstock

"Color is so subjective, but I find some perform better than others," he said. "Yellow, in particular, is very ambitious because the shades can be very heavy, look mustardy, or be too bright."

A Ryanair Boeing 737 Max 8200      Croatorum / Shutterstock.com

Meanwhile, colors like red, blue, grey, black, and white are typically well-received by plane watchers. However, Huot explained some colors fade or degrade faster than others, so the cost to re-paint certain shades is a factor.

Delta Connection aircraft.      Delta Air Line

Moreover, simple designs, which are commonly seen on global carriers, like Delta or United, do well, he said.

United Airlines at LAX      Cassiohabib/Shutterstock

However, he explained that low-cost carriers actually use bold, bright colors and designs as a way to make a statement and market their brand, like Hungary-based Wizz Air's pink fuselage...

A Wizz Air Airbus A321neo.      Thomas Pallini/Insider

And Spirit Airlines' all-yellow planes.

Spirit Airlines A319 aircraft.      Marcus Mainka/Shutterstock

Over the years, Spirit's color choice has puzzled many people, but Huot believes it was good for the airline's brand.

Spirit Airlines aircraft      Thiago B Trevisan/Shutterstock

"I think Spirit was probably trying to figure out how to break through," he said. "Yellow is a stringent color, but it stands out. I would bet there's an entire marketing strategy around owning that color, so I think that's smart and they've done a good job with their brand."

Spirit Airlines      Skycolors/Shutterstock