2017
Hotel Sorrento
Identity, Print, Digital, Environmental
The eclectic legacy of an historic landmark becomes the inspiration for creative execution.
Hotel Sorrento umbrella featuring the peacock icon.
The Hotel Sorrento Collateral system.
The Hotel Sorrento matchbox.
Hotel Sorrento mobile website featuring a custom calendar function for booking reservations.
Overview
The Hotel Sorrento opened at the tail–end of art nouveau and just before the Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition, a world’s fair held in Seattle to highlight the development of the Northwest. In the last century the hotel has seen many changes, but it has always remained a cultural hub and held strong ties to Seattle’s literary community.
In designing the identity and branding for the hotel, I wanted to enliven the spirit of this Seattle landmark and drive home its uniqueness with a fitting-mascot. For inspiration, I studied vintage publishing house colophons and matched a shade of green drawn from a vintage book cover.
The Sorrento attracts the movers and shakers from the arts community, patrons who dress to be seen and speak to be heard — evoking the spirit of a peacock. I was also inspired by the mythology of the peacock — its tail holding the many eyes of the cosmos and acting as a symbol of immortality — which pays homage to the hotel’s impressive longevity.