MAY 2018

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Source :ULTIMATE JET / This article is reproduced for archival purposes. DESIGN : IT’S GOOD TO BE THE KING BY DIDIER WOLFF May 23, 2018 | Articles Remember, for decades, we have been surrounded by white goods: coffee machines, washing machines, stoves, doors, tables, bathtubs, bidets and other basins. Once could think that manufacturers felt unable to envision the world in color, everything had to be immaculate and untouched by any customization. Although times have changed, some corporations remain cautious when it comes to flights of fancy and are content with color compromises. Curiously, aviation is one of the most striking examples. Certainly, innovation has focused on key areas such as safety, performance and comfort, but the first thing we perceive when we approach an aircraft is first and foremost its external appearance, which says a lot about the owner’s temperament. It’s the same when we meet someone: T-shirt, watch, shoes, dress, cleavage, gloves or jewelry, all these clues tell us how we want to be perceived and what we focus on. « Bet on tailor-made » In the specific field of exterior decoration in business aviation, two visions oppose: discretion or anti-conformism. If you are adept at discretion, a white shell and a barely contrasting registration will perfectly mask your intentions, and will make the manufacturers, for whom the task is greatly simplified, very happy. If you want more originality and elegance, manufacturers will propose dressing your fuselage with a line like this or, with a little bit of luck, two curves like that. On the other hand, if you are unconventional, you will most likely be left wanting. Indeed, if you want more options, you will delay procedures and manufacturers will not meet your expectations. The same can be said in the automobile or architecture sectors, you will need something tailor-made! Remarkable paradoxes However, this has not always been the case. As early as 1793, the Montgolfier Brothers adorned their Aerostat with “Fleur-de-lys, the twelve zodiac signs in gold on a painted azure background, in the middle of the figures of Louis XVI, the two Ls intertwined, repeated four times and interspersed with bright suns and the bottom trimmed with masks, garlands and winged eagles.” It was at this time obvious to magnify the State, the King, by the illustrations, but there is not much left from this school of thought. Apart from Air Force One, presidential planes have become discreet and neutral. Only formations such as the Patrouille de France show this desire to differentiate oneself and nail the Color of Power to the mast. As for business jet owners, some of them are taking the plunge. This happy approach is similar in many ways to the desire to get a tattoo since it is a question of indelibly marking one’s own territory of expression, of using one’s own symbolism, of unequivocally sharing an aspect of one’s personality: in short, of being noticed. Even if the manufacturers do not have as much freedom as the owners, it is necessary to recognize that they have become sensitive to this phenomenon, although stuck between two paradoxes: to please the greatest number of customers whereas each customer is unique, to differentiate themselves from the competition while being inspired by it. This is the reason why the most remarkable liveries are usually initiated by the providential desire of some owners, free from all the stupefying constraints related to marketing. In the name of wonder, could we not hope that the personalization of outdoor private aircraft is encouraged by the manufacturers themselves? In this world unified by conformity, being daring and going against the grain, I am convinced, can only excite and retain customers.

ARTICLE N°259 / ULTIMATE JET MAGAZINE

 MAY 2018

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Source :ULTIMATE JET MAGAZINE / This article is reproduced for archival purposes. « Miser sur du sur mesure » Dans le domaine particulier de la décoration extérieure dans l’aviation d’affaires, deux visions s’opposent : la discrétion ou l’anticonformisme. Si vous êtes adepte de la discrétion, une livrée blanche et une immatriculation à peine contrastée voileront parfaitement vos intentions et feront le bonheur du constructeur pour qui la tâche sera considérablement simplifiée. Si vous désirez plus d’originalité et d’élégance, le constructeur vous proposera d’habiller votre fuselage d’une ligne comme ceci ou, avec un peu de chance, de deux courbes comme cela. En revanche, si vous êtes anticonformiste, vous resterez très probablement sur votre faim. En effet, si vous voulez davantage d’options, vous retarderez les procédures et les constructeurs ne pourront pas répondre à vos attentes, il en est d’ailleurs de même dans l’automobile ou l’architecture, il vous faudra du sur mesure ! Dans le domaine particulier de la décoration extérieure dans l’aviation d’affaires, deux visions s’opposent : la discrétion ou l’anticonformisme. Si vous êtes adepte de la discrétion, une livrée blanche et une immatriculation à peine contrastée voileront parfaitement vos intentions et feront le bonheur du constructeur pour qui la tâche sera considérablement simplifiée. Si vous désirez plus d’originalité et d’élégance, le constructeur vous proposera d’habiller votre fuselage d’une ligne comme ceci ou, avec un peu de chance, de deux courbes comme cela. En revanche, si vous êtes anticonformiste, vous resterez très probablement sur votre faim. En effet, si vous voulez davantage d’options, vous retarderez les procédures et les constructeurs ne pourront pas répondre à vos attentes, il en est d’ailleurs de même dans l’automobile ou l’architecture, il vous faudra du sur mesure ! However, this has not always been the case. As early as 1793, the Montgolfier Brothers adorned their Aerostat with “Fleur-de-lys, the twelve zodiac signs in gold on a painted azure background, in the middle of the figures of Louis XVI, the two Ls intertwined, repeated four times and interspersed with bright suns and the bottom trimmed with masks, garlands and winged eagles.” It was at this time obvious to magnify the State, the King, by the illustrations, but there is not much left from this school of thought. Apart from Air Force One, presidential planes have become discreet and neutral. Only formations such as the Patrouille de France show this desire to differentiate oneself and nail the Color of Power to the mast. As for business jet owners, some of them are taking the plunge. This happy approach is similar in many ways to the desire to get a tattoo since it is a question of indelibly marking one’s own territory of expression, of using one’s own symbolism, of unequivocally sharing an aspect of one’s personality: in short, of being noticed. Even if the manufacturers do not have as much freedom as the owners, it is necessary to recognize that they have become sensitive to this phenomenon, although stuck between two paradoxes: to please the greatest number of customers whereas each customer is unique, to differentiate themselves from the competition while being inspired by it. This is the reason why the most remarkable liveries are usually initiated by the providential desire of some owners, free from all the stupefying constraints related to marketing. In the name of wonder, could we not hope that the personalization of outdoor private aircraft is encouraged by the manufacturers themselves? In this world unified by conformity, being daring and going against the grain, I am convinced, can only excite and retain customers. Remarquables paradoxes Pourtant, il n’en a pas toujours été ainsi. Dès 1793, les Frères Montgolfier ornaient leur Aérostat de « fleurs de lys, de douze signes du zodiaque en couleur d’or sur un fond peint bleu azur, au milieu des chiffres de Louis XVI, les deux L entrelacés quatre fois répétés et entremêlés de soleils éclatants et le bas garni de mascarons, de guirlandes et d’aigles à ailes déployées ». C’était à cette époque une évidence de magnifier par l’illustration l’État, le Roi, mais de ce réflexe il ne reste plus grand-chose. Hormis Air Force One, les avions présidentiels sont devenus discrets et neutres. Seules les formations telles que la Patrouille de France témoignent de ce désir de se différencier et d’annoncer la couleur des puissances. Quant aux propriétaires d’avions d’affaires, certains d’entre eux franchissent le pas. Cette heureuse démarche est semblable en de nombreux points à l’envie de se faire tatouer puisqu’il s’agit de marquer de façon indélébile son propre territoire d’expression, d’employer sa propre symbolique, de partager sans équivoque un aspect de sa personnalité, bref, d’être remarqué. Même si les constructeurs n’ont pas autant de liberté que les propriétaires, il faut reconnaître qu’ils sont devenus sensibles à ce phénomène, quoique coincés entre deux paradoxes : plaire au plus grand nombre alors que chaque client est unique, se différencier de la concurrence tout en s’en inspirant. C’est la raison pour laquelle les livrées les plus remarquables sont généralement initiées par le désir providentiel de certains propriétaires, débarrassés de toutes les contraintes abrutissantes liées au marketing. Au nom de l’émerveillement, ne pourrions-nous pas espérer que la personnalisation extérieure des avions privés soit encouragée par les constructeurs eux-mêmes. En ce monde unifié par le conformisme, l’audace et le contrepied, j’en suis convaincu, ne peuvent qu’enthousiasmer et fidéliser leur clientèle.

ARTICLE N°259 / ULTIMATE JET MAGAZINE

 APRIL 2018

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Source :ALTITUDES ASIA & ARABIA / This article is reproduced for archival purposes. DESIGN GET HAPPY Unconventional designer Didier Wolff founded Happy Design inspired by a visit to Dubai and the lure of the large format of aircraft as a blank canvas. His distinctive designs now adorn aircraft from F16s to an airship. We spoke to the man behind the lively livery. BY JILL STOCKBRIDGE Didier Wolff has a distinctive, rather unorthodox, style, and he revels in it. A very individual designer, he approaches each aircraft with a completely blank sheet and works to create unique and personal projects that reveal the personality of the client, or their company, while pushing the boundaries of what is technically possible. We tried to find out a little more about him. Where are you from? There is a true mystery behind that question. Apparently, my adoptive parents never did get any answers about the planet I came from. After searching for years, all I found was a track in East Germany, that led to a dead end. Today, I can say that the quest for my origins is not as important as my natural sensibility and my orientation in life. DESIGN Where did you grown up? I grew up in Strasbourg in Alsace. A region of France that is located on the German border. This is where I learned to walk, to run, to throw snowballs and to make dams as big as possible during childhood trips to thick forests full of fir trees, which seem very similar to the deep jungle when you are a boy! What were your early art experiences and training? I have been drawing and painting since I was a little boy. My parents regularly took me to museums, armed with a sketchbook and a pencil, and allowed me to sit on the floor, reproducing paintings, while they visited the rest of the exhibitions. They also decided to paint a large white space on the wall of my bedroom. This space was dedicated to my artistic freedom and was a very good way to prevent me painting areas in the other rooms of the apartment. Years later, after being ejected from school and art school because of severe allergies to academia and boredom, I became the youngest student at the Ecole Nationale des Arts Décoratifs de Strasbourg. What drew you to aviation? I have always liked working in large formats. With the exception of sculpture or architecture, format usually means something flat and limited by a frame. Aircraft, however, are usually very big, mostly three-dimensional and animated by a temperament, a mechanical soul. I look at an aircraft as flying sculpture, a white-as-a-virgin canvas, ready to be painted and to be part of the largest and highest gallery in the world – the open sky. “ Often the clients ask for something totally new and crazy, but after few weeks a sort of strong corporate reflex comes into play and says it’s maybe too much. ” DIDIER WOLFF, HAPPY DESIGN What is your earliest aviation memory? When I was eight years old, I was sitting in my school classroom next to a radiator when an airplane crossed the sky outside the window. I thought how lucky they were to be flying, when I had to stay here. When did you launch Happy Design? I launched the studio in September 2009, just after a trip to Dubai. At the time I knew nothing about aviation, but I was convinced that from a cultural viewpoint, the UAE would be sensitive to my vision and my projects. I felt immediately that I was in a good place at a good time, and the few people I met confirmed my intuition. I decided to sell my apartment in Paris and become my own business angel, underwriting the launch of Happy Design. It was the only way to start such a crazy adventure and stay free, without any banker influences. How many aircraft has the design house completed? To date, I have completed 15 individual aircraft designs, but the manufacturers and airlines have duplicated some of them. For example, I designed the Wheels Up (USA) livery, and they plan to acquire 100 King Air Beechcraft by end of 2018. Bombardier asked me to renew the livery of all their demo fleet, comprised of Learjets, Challengers and Globals. Daher Socata has reproduced my livery for the TBM850 a dozen times. I also designed the livery for two Dassault Rafales fighters, and many more. Why “Happy”? Because I know how different and special the name Happy Design Studio sounds in the aircraft industry, which is very, very corporate. Exactly what I am not, although I do wear sunglasses for air shows. I like wearing Hawaiian shirts, even during business meetings. People ask me why I don’t open a branch in Singapore or London? It is because I want to keep the pleasure of working and taking the time to live. This is why I don’t want to create more than four liveries per year. This is the key to my happiness and my life balance. What defines Happy Design? When choosing exterior paint schemes, aircraft manufacturers are trapped in paradoxes: how to differentiate themselves from their competitors, yet take inspiration from them; and From crayons to Carbonuem: Wolff showed early artistic talent, now channelled into creative livery creation, such as this Carbonuem design on a Bombardier Global 6000. Exacting work: Wolff guides and oversees the painting process, to ensure the exact match with the original project and agreement with the aviation safety rules. FLARE how to produce an exterior that will seduce everyone, even though each client is unique. I do not perform any market analysis to convince a client that this blue or that green has been favoured by a representative sample of aircraft owners. I create unique aircraft liveries and I guide and oversee the painting process entirely, in order to ensure the exact match with the original project that was approved by my clients. Also, and most importantly, to make sure that it has been painted in agreement with the aviation rules, as they are not subject to any compromise. Why do you think clients choose you? I hope they choose me because I am not conformist. The press is my first ambassador, some clients contacted me five years after reading an article in a magazine and keeping it. Others four years after rediscovering my business card, designed in a panoramic format that exceeds the usual size and means those receiving it do not know where to put it. I like to think that some customers choose me because my achievements on military planes persuade them that I know how to work within tight constraints. What inspires you and what are your influences? Someone once told me that because of years of professional practice, many radiologists scan people in the street. They look at them across their bones for They are waiting for something important from me. I have to visualise which aspects of their personality they want to show on their aircraft and I have to incorporate that when I am sending design proposals. They are fully involved because they then have to send me their descriptive feedback. Some clients answer with drawings and some with words. After the feedback my challenge is to remember and consider all the different clues, but then also to be able to forget it for a time. Sometimes I meet up with my clients for a few days on the other side of the world, sometimes only few emails are necessary to work for a discreet owner. It can be boring if a client knows exactly what he wants. I need to create, to suggest, to convince, this is where I find my happiness and I cannot work without it. Most of my clients know what they don’t want. Often they ask for something totally new and crazy, but after few weeks a sort of strong corporate reflex comes into play and says it’s maybe too much. So, in terms of avant-gardism or eccentricity, the clients define the limits. Which design completion has given you the most pleasure? The design completions I made on the jet fighters like Mirage, Rafale or F16. The real pleasure comes from the fact that a squadron is the depository of certain values such as brotherhood. Working for the military is like a temporary adoption, but during this time, what a pleasure to be part of that family. With something like the Carbonuem, do you envision the design and then work out, with other professionals, how you will achieve it? I am always considering the technical aspects, but I don’t censor myself because of it. My network is full of professionals who are passionate about what they do. I believe in them, and they have to find a technical solution for me, and especially for the client. At least a hundred times I have heard “Didier it’s impossible!” The key answer to unlocking impossibilities is: “our reputation is on the line.” what lies underneath. In a sense, I look at the aircraft like that. I imagine an animal with muscles, tendons and articulated movement. This is one aspect of my inspiration. I have also spent 52 years being influenced by the beauty of our planet – from astronauts’ spacesuits to the colours of a frog, from women’s shoes to the feathers of an arrow… You once said that you wanted to work for a female client? Have you done so, and how was it different? I haven’t yet. I hope to work for a female client because this industry is full of men. Curiously, it’s usual to say “she” when talking about an aircraft, but rare to say it about the owner. I think it could be the opportunity to explore a new colour palette, new tastes and shapes. Even if I consider that desire to be illusory. I am hoping for someone sensitive and real, like a rock star or an actress, but a princess or special agent would also be welcome. How involved do your clients tend to be in the overall design process? Hitting the heights: Wolff’s designs adorn a variety of aircraft, from the Global 5000 to the ongoing project with the Spirit of Emirates airship.

ARTICLE N° 258 / ALTITUDES ASIA & ARABIA

 JANUARY 2018

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Source :L’EST REPUBLICAIN / This article is reproduced for archival purposes. LES AILES DU DESIR À STRASBOURG O IL A SON STUDIO HAPPY DESIGN, DIDIER WOLFF CONÇOIT LES CUSTOMISATIONS QUI VONT SUBLIMER LES CARLINGUES DES AÉRONEFS, JETS COMMERCIAUX, PRIVÉS, CHASSEURS OU MME DIRIGEABLES. PAR BRUNO SUSSET Le monde était trop petit, alors il a choisi le ciel. La plus grande des galeries pour y exposer ses uvres d’art, dans lesquelles à la carlingue se mêlent pare-chocs et ailerons qu’il y appose. « J’ai toujours aimé travailler en grand format, qu’il s’agisse de dessin, de peinture ou de photo », s’amuse Didier Wolff. Dans le bel appartement strasbourgeois où il a son studio, le designer est à son ordinateur. Sur l’écran apparaît en 3D l’étude qu’il réalise pour un projet en cours dont il ne peut rien dire encore. « Cet avion, c’est déjà une sculpture en soi ! » Des chantiers comme cela, l’artiste n’en réalise plus que trois-quatre chaque année. Car il supervise lui-même tous les chantiers, du début à la fin, de la création des motifs au choix des couleurs, de la mise en place des pochoirs à l’application des peintures. « Les moments les plus émouvants, c’est quand on enlève les caches, puis lorsque l’avion sort du hangar ou à la vente et s’envole. » À cet instant, le travail de Didier Wolff prend toute sa dimension. Selon les commandes, le jeune quinquagénaire associe costumes de ligne, jets privés, chasseurs et même dirigeables… Ce qu’il préfère, c’est lorsque le client lui donne carte blanche. « On se rencontre, il me raconte. Je dois alors sentir ce qu’il souhaite, jusqu’où aussi je peux aller. » En matière de créativité, les budgets sont souvent sans limite pour des prestations facturées entre 25 000 et 350 000 euros . Pour chacune de ses superbes réalisations, Didier Wolff garde intacte sa capacité d’émerveillement. Celle du gamin qui, lorsqu’il était à l’école à Strasbourg, s’ennuyait ferme et levait les yeux au ciel « pour observer les avions ». Déjà. « Avec le recul, je m’aperçois que l’aviation m’a marqué de nombreuses étapes de ma vie. » Bien avant qu’elle lui permette de se réaliser en donnant des ailes à ses rêves les plus fous, poursuit le designer qui a fondé la société Happy Design Studio à l’aube de 2010. L’avion encore et toujours lorsque, la trentaine venue, il décide de passer son brevet de base de pilote privé sur l’aérodrome du Polygone à Strasbourg. À quoi, petit, ses parents l’emmèneraient voir les parachutistes sauter. « Pour survivre, j’ai tout repris à zéro ! » Mon père a même dû me réapprendre à faire des divisions ! En décrochant les clés du ciel, Didier Wolff s’est ouvert davantage encore les portes de tous les possibles. Besoin quasi vital, pour tenter de satisfaire une soif insatiable de découverte. De soi-même, des autres et de la planète. Il a aussi pas mal bourlingué. En Afrique particulièrement, notamment en Éthiopie d’où il est revenu transformé. « C’est un des rares endroits sur la planète… 10 — Grand angle La décoration d’un Bombardier Global 5000. Les deux Rafale de démonstration avec la customisation réalisée par Didier Wolff pour marquer les 30 000 heures de vol réalisées par ce chasseur de l’armée de l’air française. … qui fait de vous un homme. » Un homme vivant, comme lorsqu’il était devenu, après un parcours scolaire pour le moins chaotique, le plus jeune à intégrer l’école supérieure des arts décoratifs de Strasbourg. « Dessiner, je ne faisais que ça ! » Mais lui qui pensait trouver là le cadre idéal pour s’épanouir n’y rencontre que contraintes, conservatisme et académisme. AUDACE, PERSÉVÉRANCE, MOTIVATION NE LUI FERONT JAMAIS DÉFAUT Le voilà donc s’essayant ensuite au théâtre à Paris avec, comme professeurs, « Philippe Léotard et Annie Girardot ». « Enfin je baignais dans une sorte d’émulation partagée, non encadrée ! » Une famille dans laquelle il finira pourtant par ne plus se reconnaître. À force de séduire, on en arrive en tant que comédien à oublier qui l’on est… Alors il sera auteur, notamment d’une pièce de théâtre, « Coup de crayon ». Prémonitoire… Sa voie semble toute tracée, le plan de vol va pourtant rencontrer quelques turbulences. « J’ai tout laissé tomber dès l’instant où j’ai réalisé que mes désirs, je les mettais jusque-là dans les mains d’autrui. » Retour au dessin pour accomplir son dessein. Et aux avions. Audace, persévérance, motivation, ne lui feront jamais défaut, comme lorsqu’en 2009, il part à Dubaï présenter ses esquisses sur les stands d’un salon aéronautique. Dans la foulée, il décroche son premier contrat en décorant des TBM 850 pour le constructeur Daher Socata. Depuis, Didier Wolff a parmi ses clients Olivier Dassault , pour lequel il a réalisé la décoration de son Falcon 10, mais aussi Bombardier , l’armée de l’air française pour laquelle il créera la décoration d’un Mirage 2000, puis des deux Rafale de l’équipe de démonstration pour saluer les 30 000 heures de vol réalisées par ce chasseur , ou encore les forces aériennes belges pour lesquelles il peint un F16 . Des livrées d’apparat et d’exception uniquement, car il a dit non lorsqu’une armée lui a demandé de concevoir des motifs de camouflage. « Question d’éthique. » Pour toutes ses créations, Didier Wolff dit s’inspirer d’abord de la structure de l’avion mais aussi de la nature, des animaux ou des rêves. « Travailler un jour sur des trains, des voitures de course ou bien des bateaux ! »

ARTICLE N° 257 / L’EST REPUBLICAIN