A FARNHAM company is the innovative designer behind the new 'Scarlet Lady' to adorn the nose cones of Virgin owner Richard Branson's new spacecraft, which will be operational in 2009, it has been revealed. 'Eve Branson: Galactic Girl', unveiled to the world last Wednesday in New York and named after the millionaire's mother, was designed by Farnham man Toby Tinsley, owner of Sky26 in East Street. Toby said: "We designed everything apart from the logo, which was done by Philip Stark. It took about a month to get the girl right... lots of research and costume designs... there were about 50 produced before we settled on this one. "The brief in essence was quite simple, but was almost impossible to create. Galactic Girl had to be the most beautiful girl in the world. You look at her, and she brings a smile to your face- harmony, beauty and elegance all in one. "Everything about the Virgin Galactic is incredible. Everything about what they do is new, ground breaking and exciting. They have created a design icon that will go down in the history books. That was why the brief was so hard. "We had to match an awe-inspiring impact of what you are dealing with. A new, revolutionary spaceline that will be in operation by 2009. "We followed the style of the Scarlet Lady from Virgin Atlantic, to stay in line with the brand and the whole essence of the traditional of nose cone art.- which gives good energy and a feeling of happiness to their passengers. "Taking a step on from the Scarlet Lady, seen throughout the world on the side of the Virgin Atlantic fleet, Eve Branson: Galactic Girl adorns the sides of the Virgin galactic's White Knight II and SpaceShipTwo. In two poses she represents the era of new space flight and travel. "I'd like to thank everybody on the team who worked incredibly hard to achieve this, and special thanks to Stephen Chappell, the illustrator, who worked tirelessly on re-creating the face of Eve Branson." Although Sky26 was set up in late 2004, initially the company started out as 'twentysix letters' and run from the back bedroom of a small house in Farnham. The company now has offices in London, but Toby still uses his office in the back bedroom of his home in East Street. For more information about Sky26, visit http://www.sky26.co.uk">www.sky26.co.uk or e-mail Toby at [email protected]">[email protected]. To find out more about Virgin Galactic and to book a seat on the next available space flight visit http://www.virgingalactic.com">www.virgingalactic.com.
