Photo: Sandals Royal Barbados oceanfront main pool.
May 2023 is forever Bold entries in the timeline Introducing the history of Sandals and Beaches Resort. There are actually two entries. Some may point out how wonderful it is. The Caribbean company has unveiled the futuristic Sandals Dunn’s River Resort, featuring Jamaica’s first beachfront skypool suites overlooking the incredible ocean. Another entry points out subtle changes that tower over the pool and fit in the palm of your hand. It’s a refreshed and reimagined logo for Sandals and Beaches Resort.
Photo: Sandals and Beaches Resort’s new logo.
But there’s more to this than just some big talk about a new logo.
“The logo is more than just an effort to change the status quo,” says Scott Pifer, executive creative director at Sandals Resorts. “There is a greater purpose and everyone should know about it.”
So, take a good look. See the smooth edges of the lettering and the final strokes to where you want to go next? They are connections from the past to the future. From couples coming to Sandals to becoming a family and staying at Beaches. From our founder and first innovator, Gordon “Butch” Stewart, to his son, Adam Stewart, the innovator of Sandals 2.0. From the resorts that forever changed the Caribbean vacation experience to the resorts that are changing it again.
of The momentum from “that moment” to “the next” is gathering like a smooth wave. At all Sandals and Beaches properties. While the Caribbean-born company announced new destinations, luxurious new suites, new restaurant concepts, new uniforms and reimagined weddings, its logo was quietly and carefully revamped in the background. .
“What we’re talking about is an iconic family brand built with unmistakable DNA,” says Chief Marketing Officer Tony Cortizas. “We had to be intentional about getting the logo right. It’s like owning a rare classic car. When you want it to do something, Trust only the best experts”
That’s why Sandals has brought in world-renowned architects to envision the new Coyaba Sky Swim-Up Rondoval Villas, which will debut at the brand-new Sandals Dunn’s River. We have also hired the most popular culinary experts to develop the flavors of new resorts such as Edessa, Cascata and Bagnes. To reimagine the logo’s lettering, they reached out to another master craftsman. house industry. You may not know the name House Industries, but you may know that they letter with brands such as: Jimmy Kimmel Live, Los Angeles Tourism, Fortnite, and countless others. House Industries’ design does not use a font menu, so it is impossible to duplicate. Ken Barber of House Industries uses nothing but his imagination and moving his hands at a rate of about 1 millimeter per minute.
“I’ve been thinking for years that if we were going to update our logo, it would have to be similar to what we do with Sandals and other brands. beach “At the highest level possible,” Pifer said. “House Industries and Ken are exactly what we want.”
The team at House Industries literally wrote the book on lettering (it’s called “The Process is Inspiration”), and Pifer considers Barber the most influential lecturer he ever had at art school. He recalls that. The class was typography, and Pifer never forgot it.
Photo: House Industries is a beautiful and useful 400-page book about creativity, inspiration, and more.
“I have never seen anyone, before or since, who was able to create so much meaning and emotion with their handwritten letters. For me, from being a student to being a collaborator with Ken 18 years ago, I have worked with him on projects such as sandals. I decided to work on a traditional brand… this is a dream come true”
Before seeing the original logo, Barber liked the couples at Sandals and the families at Beaches. He looked at everything else. He saw colorful waters, relaxed guests, white sand beaches, luxurious rooms, smiling staff, innovations everywhere, and hints of family tradition.
“I noticed a unique footprint that originated on the island,” he says, clearly inspired by the sight of a beach just after sunrise. “We wanted to keep that spirit as we move forward.”
Photo: Sandals Negril’s new Bamboo Grove Butler Skypool Suites offers true luxury and relaxation.
When he examined the original sandal lettering, he discovered: We have always followed Butch Stewart’s courage to build a resort like no other.. The original iconic sandal logo took refreshing inspiration from a typeface called Mistral by the famous French designer.
“This was an interesting discovery,” Pifer says. “Because we knew from the beginning that nothing like this existed.”
And that’s exactly what we needed in the next version. By making the logo so smooth and clean, you’ll instantly notice sandals and beaches on the rippling sails of a catamaran, at the bottom of a pool, or next to a glass of frosty rum, no matter where you are. Masu. And when they see it, they will feel it too: joy, comfort, happiness..
“Perhaps most importantly, we bring together both of our beloved brands so that Sandals and Beach belong to the same Caribbean family.”
Photo: Freeform sketch of a sandals logo concept.
With all this in mind, the creative team got to work. I tried using flat brushes and brush pens. Changed small square edges to minute round edges. I adjusted the angle to 3 degrees and readjusted it to 4 degrees. They made sketches. They crumpled. They sketched again. And I scribbled. there were 100 or more Interact and iterate with Sandals’ creative team.
That was necessary to properly represent the “S” in sandals.
“The ‘B’ of ‘Beaches’ took a lot longer than that,” Pifer says.
Once the first letters were in place, I found outlines to clean up, weights to match, textures to soften, and grain-sized gaps to fix.
Think about it. If so much attention has been paid to the outline of the tiny hole in the letter “e” or the composition of the stroke of the “l”, then to find the ideal comfort of soaking in the bathtub, or the perfect taste of opera pavé. Imagine what you need.
“Everything we do leads to exceeding our guests’ expectations” says Cortisas.
It took nearly two years to recreate the logo.
“It turned out that Mark needed a precision ‘trim’ rather than a completely new makeover,” Barber said, not seeing any irony in his personal analogy. on the right aesthetic harmony To live as one. ”
Like one love, one heart, one Caribbean family. Add a little elegance at the end.
This prosperity takes us back to the beginnings and future of Jamaica’s North Shore.
Photo: Sandals Dunn’s River’s nostalgic postcard recalls the iconic Arawak hotel.
There are Sandals Dunn’s River’s first guests will be introduced to Sandals’ next look.. How appropriate that that is happening here. Draw a line from where the couple stands on the beach to the exact spot where Gordon “Butch” Stewart became an entrepreneur as a boy and caught fish to sell to the very hotel known as Arawak. It only takes a few seconds. Late 1950s. It only takes a few more seconds to curve around the shoreline in the opposite direction to families swimming in one of the original beach resorts. Ocho Rios beaches.
Then we can look at those lines and find meaning, just as we look at quiet waves or logos. See it in these lines? They connect generations. They remind us that “what was” lives on in “what is next.”
This is still a sandal and always will be a beach. They are getting better than ever.
