Boeing Frontiers centennial

The brief

Boeing turned 100 in July 2016. Frontiers, the employee magazine, marked it twice: a pull-out poster in July 2015 to start the countdown, and a 100-page issue for the day itself.

Countdown poster

I built the poster on a line from Bill Boeing: "It behooves no one to dismiss any novel idea with the statement, 'it can't be done.'"

I designed the poster and art directed its illustration by Mark Atteberry. It had four jobs: show the history, show the range, reach a global audience and inspire. It shows 12 commercial and defense products from Boeing and its heritage companies, from the B-17 to the SLS rocket. Four panels fold into a double gatefold.

The 100-page issue

For the centennial itself, Frontiers published a 100-page issue. It ran to 185,000 copies. Each went out in its own envelope to protect the soft-touch cover.

• Hired and directed an illustrator, Christopher Hanks, for the futuristic concepts and the cover art
• Planned shoots in 12 locations, from Washington to Saudi Arabia. Directed more than 12 photographers to one style
• Sorted hundreds of historic ads from Boeing's heritage companies and took a 100-year timeline through multiple levels of approval
• Coordinated printing and delivery: perfect bound, a 100# cover, a soft-touch finish and embossing

A decade later, copies sell on eBay for $30.

Inside the issue

The issue looks back and forward in turn. It opens with a letter from CEO Dennis Muilenburg and birthday wishes from luminaries, among them a Doolittle Raider, a Tuskegee Airman and the last man to walk on the moon. Heritage ads from Boeing and its heritage companies run through it.

Then it turns to the future. In Far out, Boeing's senior technical fellows imagine the next 100 years, drawn by Christopher Hanks. We Make Boeing is a photo essay of employees at work in four parts (design, test, build, support). The 100-year timeline runs along the foot of its pages.

One style

Photographers in 12 locations each brought their own style. A consistent look across the issue was my first priority, so I set one standard for all of them: safety, diversity, composition, authenticity, vibrancy and lighting. I held to it with positive reinforcement and high expectations.

Walkthrough

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Walkthrough All screens

Boeing Frontiers centennial issue with an illustrated space cover, beside an open spread titled Far out

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