Construct — Berkeley Branding

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Berkeley Branding

Construct, has completed a year long branding project for the Berkeley, the five star luxury hotel in Knightsbridge owned and operated by the Maybourne hotel group.

The branding review has included a new logotype, a simply exquisite re-cut of a classic English typeface. The understatement of the logotype is balanced with an innovative and flexible branding palette, allowing the hotel to engage in a sensitive dialogue with it’s guests, turning up the wit and energy where appropriate and keeping things simple where required. The colour palette is a refined cool blue, soft
grey, deepest inky blue/black and fresh white, inspired by the hotels iconic blue bar. The branding palette includes a bespoke geometric pattern, a clean technical line drawn illustration and bold use of typography and tone of voice, a contemporary approach to branding which is the antithesis of a cookie cutter approach to corporate branding.

Particular attention has been paid to detail with the selection of high quality papers, thermographic inks used for the logotype, print, embossing and apertures used to express the pattern and a matt metallic foil used to pick out the bold, contemporary typography.

“The Berkeley brand identity had to reflect the hotel itself, a rare combination of exquisite, intuitive five star service and intelligent innovation. We wanted to create a branding palette that could be as sensitive to guests needs as the hotel itself – witty and engaging at times, discrete when required and always beautiful, warm and welcoming” — Georgia Fendley, founder, Construct.

Typefaces Used: Johnston Light, Trade Gothic Ultra Condensed 20, Baskerville (Logo) and Johnston light (Logo descriptor).

www.the-berkeley.co.uk

A Few Words from the Editor

If you’ve been following SI or Twitter, you may have caught wind of the announcement that SI will officially be back in business next week after a short hiatus (I’ve been super busy what can I say!) Thank you (dear SI reader) for being so patient and thank you for continuing to support the site :) With that said, I thought some of you might appreciate this sneaky little update to set the tone for the quality you will witness next week… And the week after… And the week after that… Etc ;)

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This post is tagged Branding, Construct London, Packaging, Stationery

May 18th, 2012

Jon

Simply stunning work, and nice to see SI is back in business!
May 18th, 2012

Gray

The copywriting on the chocolates is something special, nice to see some playfulness in such sophisticated work. Lovely stuff.
May 22nd, 2012

Alison

The pattern looks exactly like a David Hicks pattern…
May 25th, 2012

RIZ

Really love this project – elegant, sophisticated – in particular the pieces that show the lovely tone of voice.

A Question though – and in no means trying to be negative, BUT, it would be great to see the reasoning behind some of the design decisions – such as why there is the use of the hexagon shape throughout. i think it might help give context to the work – and bit more insight into the thinking behind a project such is this. Because obviously there has been some real thinking done – and would be great to see it and appreciate it : )
May 25th, 2012

Mark

I don’t mean to add to the fire, but honestly — it’s hard to get excited about the logo. I’m sure they went through many variations and picked through a whole lot of typefaces to choose the “perfect” one — but really, if it wasn’t for the copywriting on the chocolates, I might have dozed off halfway.
Jun 2nd, 2012

construct

Thanks for all the lovely comments : )

Hi Alison, Riz, Mark

The hexagon shape was inspired by existing patterns used in the architecture and interiors of the hotel, from the geometric marble inlay around the lifts to the new facia design which will be implemented post Olympics.

Well spotted – We love David Hicks and yes the hexagon is a shape he used repeatedly, we are not sure if the marble inlay was designed by him – no-one can confirm, the archive is unclear and this is not one of his patterns however it is certainly possible as he worked with some of the hotels that now form the Maybourne group creating pavilions and follies within Claridge’s event spaces and possibly some of the permanent features at the Berkeley, we would like to think Hicks designed some of the key features but we can’t claim it without proof.

There are hundreds of branded items within a luxury hotel environment, some functional, some more emotional, we were keen to avoid a corporate, repetitive, over-branded feel so created a complex, layered palette, the result is harmonious yet sensitive to location and functionality

Yes the logotype is simple – it’s a significant refinement of the previous logotype, created by Pentagram, in this instance the branding is about more than just the logotype – we wanted it to be refined and yet quite simple and discrete

Hope this goes some way to answering your questions – Construct X
Jul 19th, 2012

Andrew Areoff

I think the logotype is just perfect. Understated elegance and lets the name and what it epitomises do all the talking.

September Industry