December 1, 1999, Fort Lee, NJ: Scheme Designers, a design company specializing in the exterior paint scheme designs for aircraft, announced that it has concluded a major contract with New Piper Aircraft, Inc. to design the production paint scheme for the new Piper Malibu Meridian. 

Piper completed applying the scheme to its 3rd production prototype, N402MM. This aircraft took off on its maiden flight on August 27, 1999, initiating it into the certification program with a one-hour flight. The paint scheme is a vital aspect of Piper's marketing program - creating a unique and distinctive look and feel for the aircraft. Larry Bardon, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at New Piper Aircraft, Inc. said "the new scheme looks stunning on the aircraft," and he looked forward to completing the publicity aerial photo shoot in coming weeks. 

Craig Barnett, founder of Scheme Designers, said, "the project was initiated in April this year. The high profile aircraft involved made it a very important design for us. It took 23 designs and hundreds of design iterations to arrive at the final scheme." Scheme Designers worked closely with New Piper Aircraft Inc.'s marketing department in defining and completing the job.