The Faena Hotel + Universe is an icon of the city of Buenos Aires, located in Puerto Madero within meters of the River Plate. The creators, Alan Faena and Philippe Starck, sought to transcend current architectural parameters: transforming a historic building into a sophisticated hotel.

The construction of the hotel was not yet complete but the creation of the hotel’s identity was already a priority. The design of a brand which could condense its Empire style meant the beginning of the positioning of the hotel’s corporate image.

Design a brand, graphical synthesis in a pure and simple way, capable of transmitting feelings and images captured in Philippe Starck’s sketches and in the concepts envisioned by Alan Faena’s project.

To meet the graphic challenge posed, the starting point was to get to know the Faena Hotel + Universe; that is to say, to experience the ambiance of its rooms, capture images that are representative of its style and interpret the habits of its prospective guests. Several sketches were made to visualize the first graphical approaches to the brand.

Mixing a geometric stroke with imperial ornamentation, with a view towards recreating the hotel’s eclectic profile, by creating a monogram with the letter F that shows reminiscences of Neo-classical typographic families. To stress this contrast of styles, the typography Trade Gothic Extended was chosen for the name_es: “Faena Hotel + Universe”.

After the brand was created, we worked on the adaptability of the system, verifying its communicational functionality through its application to different media, situations and spaces.