Case study

The Merrion Hotel—website, brochure, menus etc

The Merrion hotel is a busy 75 bedroom seafront establishment offering good quality accommodation and service in the Victorian resort of Llandudno, North Wales. Its clientele expect an enjoyable experience and they are not disappointed. Ab Ovo were tasked with producing a comprehensive brochure, stationery and website to reflect the core values of the hotel, to attract the usual guests and to appeal to a broader age demographic.

After an exploratory first meeting we arranged to visit the hotel to get a feel for the place and to meet staff and guests alike. Much insight and useful information was gleaned from this and we were able to quickly establish a few general design cues which we wished to explore.

Photography

During the third meeting we presented some loose brochure page mock-ups and were able to ascertain a general style. The owner indicated his desire to focus as much on the local area as on the hotel—this suited us down to the ground as it opened up the possibility of a rich visual element and precluded the common monotony of endless pictures of beds from all angles.

The photography used comprised exisiting shots, stock images and photos taken by ourselves, the latter ranging from carefully composed wide-angle landscapes to candid photographs taken in the hotel. We adapted existing copy and wrote new sections about the hotel’s location and aurrounding area. The brochure was then rapidly produced and approved.

A new logo

During the process we introduced the idea of a new logo to replace the existing logotype which was used only erratically. This morphed from wide-ranging early sketches to the final dragon based motif by a continual process of collaboration, consultation and refinement.

With the printwork in place attention turned to the website. A warm dark brown was chosen in place of the brochure’s black as it was more inviting on-screen. The brochure’s vertical emphasis was translated to the horizontal to maximise image size and impact.

Contemporary transformation

Our usual approach of continual co-operation and refinement served the project well: The hotel’s image has undergone a contemporary transformation and the business now has a print and online presence which sets it apart from its competitors.