Year
2024
Client
Case study
Category
Business
Product Duration
3 - 4 Weeks
To ground the exercise in reality, I audited more than a dozen five-star hotel identities—from historic icons like The Plaza to newer lifestyle properties—mapping common visual cues and gaps. Competitive mood-boards were paired with a quick ethnographic scan of San Francisco: bridge silhouettes, emerald-toned bay vistas, and the city’s Art-Deco ironwork. Colour-psychology references confirmed that deep greens signal calm authority while muted golds read as refined rather than ostentatious. These insights shaped the creative north star: quiet luxury rooted in place.
Sketches began with hundreds of loose bridge abstractions before converging on two tapering pylons and ascending bars that subtly echo the Golden Gate’s towers and cables. A heritage palette (deep pine, grey-green, muted gold, warm ivory) was locked, then tested across paper stocks and screen mocks for contrast compliance. Didot and Didot Bold were chosen for their elegant stress contrast, set with generous tracking to breathe on spacious layouts. Rapid mock-ups—cards, amenities, signage—validated legibility and brand feel.
Once the core assets felt cohesive, I built a mini-design system: colour formulas (CMYK, RGB, Hex, Pantone), type hierarchy, icon grid, and clear-space rules. Vector masters were exported for print and digital, while smart-object PSD mock-ups enabled fast application testing. A concise brand-usage sheet and sample collateral (business card, door hanger, toiletry labels) demonstrated real-world scalability. The artefacts were then organised into a portfolio-ready PDF with annotated process screenshots and rationale captions.
Bridge the classic and the contemporary. By marrying a stately serif with a pared-down bridge emblem and restrained palette, the concept positions Fairmont (hypothetically) as both guardian of heritage and curator of modern comfort. The identity speaks in a confident whisper—inviting guests into an atmosphere of timeless sophistication while quietly echoing the geometry and hues of San Francisco itself.
