Pakistan International Airlines (PIA)
A Connected Brand Experience, From Screen to Seat
An airline’s brand lives in every interaction: the website a traveller explores, the app they open, the posts they encounter, and the menu they hold onboard.
Unboxed’s work for Pakistan International Airlines included branding support for the launch of PIA Premier in Pakistan, alongside website design, mobile app interface design, social media creatives, and meal menus for Business and Economy Class. Across these assignments, we brought PIA’s familiar identity into digital communication and passenger-facing design.
Part of our branding work was undertaken for PIA Premier when the service launched in Pakistan. This assignment added a launch context to our wider PIA portfolio, with branding contributing to how the new service was introduced and presented to passengers.
The Challenge
One Airline Across Different Touchpoints
PIA’s passenger-facing materials needed to work across different settings. A website must balance travel inspiration with practical information. A mobile interface needs clear actions within a smaller screen. Social content must communicate quickly, while an onboard menu needs to present choices in a format passengers can comfortably browse.
The design challenge was to address these different requirements while maintaining the airline’s recognizable identity. Business and Economy Class menus also required distinct treatments that reflected their respective service environments while remaining part of the same brand.
Our Approach
Carry the Identity Through the Journey
We approached each format through its role in the passenger experience, using PIA’s established branding as the connecting thread.
For digital interfaces, our focus was on organizing content, establishing a clear visual hierarchy, and making key actions prominent. For social communication, it was on recognizable branding and occasion-led creative. For onboard menus, it was on balancing food imagery, typography, and the clear presentation of meal choices.
The work adapted PIA’s identity to each medium, with layouts and levels of detail suited to screens, social content, and printed menus.
Execution Strategy
Design for the Moment of Interaction
- Website design: Created layouts that brought travel imagery, booking-related elements, destination content, and navigation into a structured interface, with presentations across desktop, tablet, and mobile.
- Mobile app interface design: Designed branded registration and login screens using grouped form fields, recognizable icons, and contrasting action areas.
- Social media creatives: Developed occasion-led communication, including Eid artwork combining calligraphy, aviation cues, and PIA’s visual identity.
- Business Class menus: Explored folded menu layouts and cover treatments combining food photography, refined typography, and green and gold accents.
- Economy Class menus: Developed compact menu card layouts with clear meal sections, food imagery, and a consistent branded footer.
Impact & Results
Tangible Outcomes Across Brand and Passenger Touchpoints
A Coordinated Passenger-Facing Portfolio: The delivered designs carried PIA’s recognizable branding across website layouts, mobile interfaces, social creatives, and printed menus.
Digital Layouts with a Defined Hierarchy: The website designs organized travel content and booking-related elements, while the app screens gave registration and login their own focused layouts.
Distinct Presentations for Two Cabin Classes: Business Class work explored an editorial, folded format. Economy Class work used compact cards with a direct presentation of meal choices.
Culturally Relevant Brand Communication: The Eid creative connected a cultural occasion with PIA’s aviation identity through calligraphy, colour, and recognizable branding.
What We Actually Did
PIA Premier Launch Branding
Provided branding support for PIA Premier’s launch in Pakistan, contributing to the visual presentation of the service at introduction. This launch-related work formed part of Unboxed’s broader design contribution to PIA.
Website Design
Designed PIA website layouts combining destination imagery, navigation, promotional areas, and booking-related interface elements. Prepared desktop, tablet, and mobile presentations to demonstrate the visual treatment across screen sizes.
Mobile App Interface Design
Designed registration and login interfaces using PIA’s brand colours, logo, form styling, and action buttons, carrying the airline’s identity into focused mobile screens.
Social Media Creative Design
Created branded social communication, including Eid artwork featuring calligraphy, an aviation motif, and the airline’s recognizable green identity.
Business Class Meal Menu Design
Created menu cover and interior layout treatments for Business Class. The work combined food photography, typographic hierarchy, section icons, and branded details across folded menu presentations.
Economy Class Meal Menu Design
Created front and reverse menu card treatments for Economy Class, bringing meal and dessert sections, food imagery, and PIA branding into a compact printed format.
Key Takeaway
Every Touchpoint Carries the Brand
A passenger’s impression of an airline is shaped across many moments, from exploring a website to choosing a meal onboard.
Unboxed’s work for PIA demonstrates how a familiar identity can be carried across those moments through thoughtful design. Each format served a different purpose, while the wider body of work maintained a recognizable connection to the airline.