The Oriole

Establishing a brand in beautiful Northern Michigan

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The Challenge

My client was seeking to purchase and renovate a hotel property in Mackinaw City, Michigan. In order to attract investors, he needed a way to clearly communicate his vision for the brand of his new venture - The Oriole. The project included:

  • Color palette and typography

  • Logo

  • Stationary and business cards

  • Powerpoint deck

  • Moodboards

Creating a System

Mackinaw City is a town of less than 1,000 people, known for it’s rustic woods, spacious beaches, and world famous fudge. It’s also the most popular tourist city in the State of Michigan.

My goal was to make sure The Oriole blended into the city aesthetic, while establishing itself as an upscale option for its visitors.

Building the Brand

The Oriole brand needed to be built from the ground up. To begin, I brainstormed words to associate with Mackinaw City. Three main themes emerged:

  • Nature

  • Beauty

  • Simplicity

Drawing from these concepts, I created a color palette and typography system that was elegant, yet understated. I selected tones typically found in nature (brown and taupe) as The Oriole's primary colors. Serif and sans serif types faces that are elegant alone and bold when paired together were meticulously curated and chosen.

Logo + Stationary

Three iterations of the logo were created - two wordmarks and one lettermark. Their simplistic nature was intended to communicate cleanliness and luxury.

The logos are unassuming – yet striking, just like the beautiful landscape on which the property is located.

The designs were applied to custom-created stationary, which included business cards, envelopes, and a letterhead:

Powerpoint + Moodboards

The Oriole brand was applied to a Powerpoint presentation presented to potential investors. The deck included a custom-created cover slide and a series of moodboards, both of which were intended to paint a picture of what The Oriole brand is – rooted in nature, but also luxurious in its furnishings and amenities.

The Takeaway

My client received countless positive remarks on the branding effort from a variety of different sources – including investors, his counsel, and his partners. My client had six meetings with investors scheduled after the project concluded; more than one mentioned how the branding project inspired them to consider The Oriole as a serious investment opportunity.

“Zack was great to work with and super communicative. We came to Zack very early in the process, and he was instrumental in helping bring focus to the brand.”