Identify key elements about the airplane or airline company that can be incorporated into the logo. A slogan, image of the airplane or a specific part of the airplane, specific colors or the initials of the owner of the plane or the company itself may be useful when you're designing the logo.
Focus on the key elements of the logo such as the outline of a basic airplane shape against a blue sky that is represented by a blue sphere. Avoid the addition of too many elements to the logo. Adding clouds to the blue backdrop, for example, could make the logo too complex. A successful logo must be legible and easy to read whether it's presented on a large scale, such as on the airplane, or on a very small scale (on a business card or in the corner of a print advertisement).
Decide whether the main focus of your logo will be a graphic image or the type. If you would like the illustration to serve as the focal point, you'll need to experiment with the placement of the name of the company or the slogan. Will the type sweep across the entire image or be flush left, flush right or centered? On occasion, the type may even circle the graphic image. The best thing to do is to create a wide range of examples. Scan the graphic image into your computer (or simply create it in your software program from the beginning) and experiment with many versions of the logo by changing the placement of the type and the font you're considering. Gradually delete options that don't work as well as others until you've created the perfect logo for the airplane.
Check to make sure the logo is still as effective and legible in gray scale, or in black and white, as it is in color. The logo will inevitably be printed in black and white so the design must not be lost when the color is removed. Consider, for example, a circle that is split in half and imagine one side in bright purple and the other in bright red with the colors butting directly up against one another. If you were to convert this circle into black and white, the colors would be indistinguishable. To prevent an incident like this, make sure all the different design elements are in contrasting colors. A similar problem with color would occur if you were to create the plane in dark gray and the sky in dark blue. If the colors were turned to gray scale, the two elements would blend together. Using a white or light gray plane against a dark blue backdrop would eliminate any potential problem.
Step back from the logo to look at it from all angles. This will allow you to see the flow and layout of the design clearly and identify any concerns. For example, if the plane's wings and body are angled in a certain manner, the image could resemble a peace sign instead of the wings of a plane. With some simple tweaking, the image will retain its integrity from any angle. By experimenting with color, fonts and graphics until you have a winning combination, you'll be able to create a logo for the airplane that will be attractive and memorable.