High Country Motor Lodge
Reposition, rebrand, and relaunch a vintage roadside motel for a new generation of restless ramblers.
- Art Direction
- Brand Identity
- Brand Positioning
- Copywriting
- Digital Media
- Environments
- Illustration
- Merchandise
- Naming
- Photography
- Signage
- Social Media
- Website Consultation
High Country Motor Lodge is a roadside motel in Flagstaff, Arizona, nestled between The Grand Canyon and the Barringer Crater, complete with event lawn, sauna, plunge pool, and a general store that boasts a bar, lounge, and dining.
Inspired by the celestial beauty and mystery of the night sky, the high country desert, jagged mountains, deep forests, and well-worn highways, it’s a contemplative retreat and launch point into the Arizona high country wilderness and Grand Canyon.
The client painted a picture of a destination that draws as much from the allure of the past as it does the promise of the future — a star-gazing ethos that meets the great American road trip.
That vision — and the property’s blend of vintage style, contemporary design, and irreverent hospitality, inspired and informed every part of the brand experience — from the name, story, and identity to print materials, social media, and guest experience.
The custom letterforms include unique rounded and square details that nod to the brand’s character, history, geography, and approachability.
The brand identity comprises three logotypes — for the Motor Lodge, the General Store and the Sauna & Plunge Pool. While sharing a common language, each logotype carries its own nuances, nodding to the inviting, collected feel of a well-traveled brand. A collection of typography-based graphic elements reflect the brand’s eclectic spirit, create flexibility, and invite visual interest, allowing the brand to organically translate across materials and platforms.
A color palette of midnight, cream, red rock, and deep blue green is accented by pops of mellow lime, creating an inviting, original, layered look.
The brand design touches every part of the property, sharing helpful information and creating memorable moments of connection in everything from in-room communications, property signage, key cards, and clothes hangers to postcards, matchbooks, coasters, menus, and brochures.
Branded merchandise, including hats, t-shirts, sweatshirts, mugs, and koozies, provides opportunities to share High Country Motor Lodge’s adventurous, eclectic spirit with friends far and wide.
Given the Motor Lodge’s location in the foothills of Lowell Observatory, home to the discovery of Pluto, as well as Flagstaff’s designation as the world’s first International Dark Sky Place, a branded Stargazing Guide is essential to inform and inspire cosmic adventures.
And what would any epic road trip be without an epic soundtrack to match? A branded, curated four-cassette collection fuels legendary, windows-down journeys, soulful escapes, and perhaps even the next great American novel.
