In early 2013, Magnolia Hotel & Spa began the process of renovating their guestrooms. Known for their impeccable personalized service as Victoria’s top boutique luxury hotel, Magnolia was looking to revamp their image with a brand that would better align with the updated style and guest experience of the hotel. This brand refresh entailed the development of all of Magnolia’s collateral to date, with Array completing the design of sales collateral, print and online display ads, corporate stationery, in-room collateral, social media graphics, and our most recent project – bike and walking tour maps!

Since Magnolia had an existing brand that was being used on everything from architectural elements to uniforms, sales, marketing, and guest collateral, Array was tasked with finding the perfect balance of new and familiar. Magnolia’s original brand was dated with colors of yellow, ivory, gold and an ornate icon. Taking inspiration from the new interior decor, we redesigned the logo by simplifying the icon and updating the colour palette to silver, neutrals, and greys with a secondary colour palette that featured updated tones of the previous brand colours.

Working with hotel management to develop consistent and compelling touchpoints, we did a complete design refresh to all hospitality and in-room collateral. Focusing on creating a seamless guest experience, we designed a range of printed brand collateral that is friendly, warm, and inviting, including bathrobe tags, breakfast door hangers, comment cards, refreshment menus, greeting cards for personal notes, and note pads. 

Following the renovations in 2013, Magnolia Hotel and Spa was internationally recognized for a series of awards, including the #1 Best City Hotel in Canada in Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards! Array designed a series of print ads to spread the word on this amazing achievement, along with the opening of their new restaurant, The Courtney Room. Reflecting on the new, modernized look and feel of the hotel,  we designed these print ads using a grid-based layout with creative image arrangement, attention-grabbing typography, and active whitespace.

With the logo, brand standards and colour palette established, Array used the brand foundation to create a new corporate identity package that included business cards, thank you cards, and letterhead and envelopes. New corporate fonts were chosen to reflect a blend of traditional and modern, along with new corporate identity standards for a distinctive brand identity. We also supported Magnolia with their Grand Opening by designing social media graphics, print and email grand opening invitations, and custom email announcements.

In our most recent collaboration, Array partnered with Magnolia to develop maps that would engage tourists to explore the local community and attractions. We created handy bike tour maps that guide Magnolia’s guests on trails to Victoria’s best destinations, with each map featuring its own uniquely themed tour route, like Craft Brewery Tour or Magnolia’s Tapas Trail. The bike map project has been incredibly well-received and has led to the expansion of new maps and routes to explore downtown Victoria, with such creative themes as Bikes, Beans and Blooms; Haunted Trails; Rainy Day; and more!