The Death of Cookie Cutter Design
Dream Scheme Team Gives Ho-hum GA Designs the Heave-ho!
By Max Lundin
A Company is Born
Building a business out of a passion for art is an impressive feat to accomplish. For every dozen starving artists, only a few manage to develop their talents into a successful business. Dream Scheme Designs, located in San Antonio, Texas, is one of these success stories.
Jason and Amanda Noll created Dream Scheme out of a mixed knowledge base of aviation expertise and marketing savvy. Jason is the third member in a lineage of aviators. His grandfather flew B17s, his father works for a RC (Radio-Controlled) airplane company, and Jason is a corporate pilot. Jason has been involved with airplanes since his childhood. In fact, he soloed a 162 at just 16 years old! Amanda is equally proficient in the aviation field. She’s used her marketing knowledge from the University of Illinois towards her own career in the RC plane field.
The couple first started designing together by working on models and paintings, but decided to take their hobby to the next level by performing aesthetic surgery on full-scale aircraft. Friends and acquaintances from GA events took notice of their skills and a small following began to grow. After realizing that their pastime was worth more than just a weekend escape, they opened up their doors as a dedicated business. Dream Scheme Designs launched in February of 2013 in San Antonio, Texas.
Taking Off
For a company that’s barely passed its first birthday, Dream Scheme has established its credibility as an up-and-coming aviation design company. Dream Scheme has revamped plenty of trusty 172s and Archers, but Jason and Amanda have also gotten their hands dirty with competition aircraft and even a top-of-the-line private jet. The company has redefined baby steps, building an incredible resume of “flying art” in just a matter of months.
Dream Scheme’s latest claim to fame is its work with Gulfstream to design a G650 for an Argentinian businessman who works with Puma sportswear and is an investor in the regional airline company, LAPA.
Jason and Amanda were given the opportunity to use the full extent of their imagination to create a one-of-a-kind piece. “It’s not a 650 you’ve ever seen,” praised Jason. The couple had the opportunity to work out-of-the-box for this plane—and that’s just what they did. The design sports a two-tone metallic design with two flags: one Argentinian and one Armenian. The concept is unheard-of as far as private jets go, but the norm didn’t dissuade Jason or Amanda. The design is more than a Dream Scheme statement piece; it’s a testament to the plane’s owner.
Dream scheme has also done work on competition aircraft, a category that requires extreme attention to detail. Stunt planes require certain design techniques to make them stand out more effectively during competition. “Elements, like straight lines, give pilots an advantage when doing stunt competitions because it makes the aircraft appear to be flying straighter,” explained Jason. Jason and Amanda knew that they were faced with a limitation for this particular plane, but they pushed the boundaries by incorporating multiple colors, gradients, and creative elements.
Not Your Average Paint Job
“We compromise the conservative with the completely ballistic,” explained the couple. Dream Scheme takes the simple idea that a customer brings in, makes it exponentially more aggressive, and finds common ground for an end product. “We stay away from the cookie cutter,” said Amanda, “The industry is heading toward the more aggressive, West Coast style of plane.” Like the bold Red Bull racing machines, Dream Scheme designs make a statement, a mindset that is enticing new customers.
Some customers give Dream Scheme more liberty than others. The Puma exec aimed for a statement jet, while the competition pilots needed certain styles for strategic advantages, but your average pilot may be more interested in straying from an obnoxious looking aircraft.
The Process
- Basic Outline – The first step is to get a feel for the aircraft. Dream Scheme hand draws your plane based on factory specs to get an intimate understanding of the plane’s structure and symmetry.
- Realistic Shadowing – Shadows are applied to the rendering to get a feel for exactly what the plane will look like while sitting on the tarmac, based on realistic light source angles and shadows.
- Apply the Scheme and Color – During the defining element of the process, Dream Scheme creates a bona fide design scheme, distancing it from other cookie cutter designs.
- Customer modifications – After presenting the first draft to the customer, negotiations are made to accommodate for Dream Scheme’s suggestions and the customer’s personal preferences. Dream Scheme will present the client with modified drafts until every line, gradient, and curve is perfect.
- Color Selection – The final step to the design process is selecting the color palette. Colors are coordinated with styles provided by real-world paint providers to present a concept that describes exactly what the finished product will look like.
- Exporting the design – After the design has reached perfection, Dream Scheme provides the customer with blueprints that it may provide to their paint shop of choice. Dream Scheme can also provide full-size vinyl paint masks to ensure that your plane is flawless on the runway.
The Most Accurate Design Around
Dream Scheme doesn’t present you with a random concept and a can of spray paint—they conceptualize every detail. The process uses hand drawn scale images, Illustrator designing for accuracy, and CAD drawings to determine the exact effect light will cast upon the plane. Every meticulous detail that Dream Scheme emphasizes makes the final product that much more impressive. Beyond providing the design blueprint, Dream Scheme also gives the customer a high-res print of the finished product to display as a testament of the rehab.
Noses Forward
The Noll family spends every waking moment either on the tarmac or in the cockpit. From building, to flying, to designing, they’ve touched every base in the aviation aficionado’s realm. They hope to pass down their passion to their children to keep the Noll aviation lineage alive. Find out more about Dream Scheme at www.dreamschemedesigns.com.
