As part of a huge, complicated, year-long campaign to celebrate British Airways’ 100th birthday, we created a book of 18 stunning postcards, sampled food at 35,000 feet (someone has to, I guess), and curated a list of ten exceptional Modern Britons who draw on the nation’s rich heritage but also have the pioneering spirit to drive their chosen field forward. Phew.

These included Sir Michael Caines, Matty Bovan and Amy Williams.

Sir Michael Caines

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We tasked all of our ‘Modern Britons’ with offering a bespoke love letter to Britain. Michelin-starred hotelier, chef, businessman, charity patron and occasional TV star Michael Caines MBE created what he described as ‘summer on a plate’: fresh strawberries combined with lemon curd, pistachio, cream and local honey infused with lavender.

It connected to his childhood and the memories of growing fruit and vegetables and turning them into incredible meals with his adopted father. ‘Food is about simplicity and the layering and building of flavours. It’s about intelligent thinking and cooking in what seems like an effortless way,’ he said.

We filmed and photographed Michael at Lympstone Manor, a beautifully restored Georgian house- a realisation of his dream that symbolises all of the hard work and overcoming of adversity he faced to get there. ‘My achievements here really go to the heart of British values. I don’t need to go back too many generations before I realise that my ancestors were slaves and yet here I am, sat as the owner bringing this place back to life and being free to express myself and giving people the opportunity to come and discover this amazing place and my cuisine. It really is incredible what you can achieve when you are set free.’

Amy Williams

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Amy Williams was not only the first British athlete to win gold in an individual event at the Winter Olympics in 30 years – she was also the first British woman to do so in more than half a century.

We knew Amy was heavily pregnant at the time of shooting, and so decided to focus on the fact that she was not only a gold medalist, but also a mother and the official athlete mentor to the latest talent squad. We wanted the image to speak to‘ Team GB: The next generation’. This amplified British Airways’ commitment to ensuring the brand didn’t rest on its past successes of the last 100 years – it was focused on making sure the next 100 were even better.

We commissioned photographer David Ellis, whose skills with stylistic gel lighting enabled us to create a series of powerful portraits of Amy - the hero having a bold and striking shadow behind her showcasing the contrast between sportswoman and mother.

At a difficult time in British Airways’ history Amy provided a powerful symbol of rebirth for the brand, as well as amplifying values of strength, focus and care.

Matty Bovan

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Fashion designer Matty Bovan has been hailed by international critics as “fashion’s great bright hope”.

Inspired by his childhood passion for knitting combined with his love of sci-fi, Bovan arrived to our shoot location dressed in one of his signature Edwardian-style shirts, along with neon-pink skirt, orange neoprene boots and knee-lengthArgyle-patterned socks.

We decided to shoot in the historic Burton Agnes Hall to encompass his love for the British heritage and watched him clamber onto a giant oak dining table in order to adopt the perfect pose. The 17th-century setting provided the perfect backdrop for Bovan’s complex, unpredictable aesthetic, which is shaking up the British fashion scene right now with its joyful rebelliousness.

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High dining

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At 35,000ft, where our taste buds change and water boils at 89C, there’s both a science and an art to haute cuisine. Tom Kerridge was the latest chef to accept the challenge as he partnered with British Airways to to create a special inflight menu to celebrate their centenary.

In a love letter written in the clouds to British ingredients, Tom created a locally sourced menu that included Dorset Blue Vinny, paired with celery and grapes, halibut served with umami-rich girolles and pickled anchovies in a caesar salad, and an Edinburgh-based 10-botanical gin.

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We paired up award-winning food photographer Patrice De Villiers with paper artist Hattie Newman to create a series of conceptual images showcasing the highlights of Tom’s new menu. They were published in The Sunday Times Magazine alongside an interview with theMichelin starred maestro.

BA100: The Centenary collection

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British Airways asked us to produce something to inspire every reader of The Sunday Times to see them as an innovative British heritage brand at the forefront of the golden age of travel in the 20th century.

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We took“connection” as our theme.

British Airways doesn’t merely transport people from place to place. It unites them with far-flung family and friends.

And when we thought about what connection means to people, we thought of how travellers have always yearned to share their experiences with loved ones. For decades, postcards were the easiest way for them to share the excitement of their journeys – a single poignant phrase, “Wish you were here”, often filling in for a world of inexpressible emotion.

So we created the Art of Travel – 18 collectable, limited edition postcards drawn by some of the finest illustrative talent in Britain today.

We gave them a loose brief – simply, “What does travel mean to you?” – so they could spread their wings, and they rose to the challenge.

Owen Gildersleeve created a 3D cityscape fashioned from layers of paper and card, overflown by a plane and emblazoned with the words “Welcome to Adventure”.

With artful strokes of watercolour, leading fashion illustrator David Downton paid tribute to the flight crews who make every passenger feel special.

Having drawn his family with suitcases covered in stickers from their travels, Stanley Chow said: “Travelling always brings my family closer together and reminds me of how I’d like the world to be. We should learn about different people from different cultures and to love and respect one another.”

Alan Kitching, the world’s foremost practitioner of letterpress typography and printmaking, created hand-rolled bunting to celebrate the centenary.

The cards reminded Sunday Times readers to share their adventures with family and friends back home, as well as inspiring them to start planning their next journey.

To recreate the sense of serendipitous discovery that comes with travel – the feeling that you can’t predict what’s coming next – we created three different perforated booklets of six postcards each. On the last weekend of 2019, each edition ofThe Sunday Times carried one of these souvenir booklets.

We also created a collectors’ edition of all 18 postcards in a foil-blocked slipcase for British Airways’ most valued clients.