By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Aug 22: The Sarawak government has been called to clarify allegations that the official logo for State-owned airline AirBorneo may have been derived from stock images, as well as to make public the outcome of the official logo and aircraft livery design competition organised in early March.
In a statement, Sarawak Democratic Action Party Socialist Youth (DAPSY) secretary George Lam claimed that the unveiling of the logo on Thursday (Aug 21) had sparked debate among netizens over allegations that its official logo design was derived from stock images.
He also said that netizens have questioned the lack of Borneo elements and its failure to truly showcase the unique identity of Borneo, with some even saying that the ‘Wings of Unity’ design bore a resemblance to a stock image found on a well-known platform.
“This raises serious concerns about whether the logo was genuinely designed by a professional, and its originality and representativeness remain in question,” said Lam.
As such, Lam called for the logo to be redesigned with Borneo-themed elements to create a more representative brand identity.
In addition, he also questioned the Sarawak government on the outcome of the official logo and aircraft livery design competition organised in March this year, as well as who designed the logo that was unveiled.
“We have seen many creative netizens spending days to several weeks designing official logos and aircraft liveries for our State airline, hoping their ideas and design concepts would be shortlisted and adopted,” he said.
However, he said, many participants have expressed frustration online, claiming that the the competition results were not released.
Lam stressed that AirBorneo cannot have its branding decided hastily, as the official logo plays a crucial role in brand positioning and future promotional efforts.
On Facebook, user Taufiq Salleh pointed out the similarities between AirBorneo’s official logo and a stock image from a well-known website.
“Where is the Borneo concept in this final logo? The shape is not a bird (hornbill) but a swan,” he said in a post.
Meanwhile, on a post made by the Facebook group ‘I Love Borneo’, several comments compared AirBorneo’s logo to that of other airlines, while some called for a redesign and for the results of the logo and livery design competition to be made public. — DayakDaily
