Are you what you design?

In 2021, we covered the identity for Avelo, an upstart airline offering low fares and good vibes to a modest 11 destinations across the Western U.S.. Designed by independent designer Kim Berlin, this was a fairly big job for her — small or not, designing an airline is on many designers’ bucket lists — and, presumably, an excellent portfolio piece for business development purposes. That changed for her recently, as Avelo signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration Control and Enforcement (the infamous ICE) agency to fly federal deportation flights from Arizona. To some this is not the best association to have anything to do with, leading Berlin to wrestle with what to do and how to feel about this brand she helped build that five years later could a