Democratising luxury with provocateur hoteliers, House of Gods

PGE–104: HOUSE OF GODS

  • Winner of the Scottish Design Awards for ‘Best Brand Design’

    Secured initial £1.2M private investment along with bank funding pre-launch

    Featured in The Scotsman, Business Traveller, Telegraph UK, InsiderUK and Edinburgh Live

  • Art Direction, logo design, brand design, photography, signage, website design, fabric patterns, social media assets, & printed collateral

  • Client & Collaborator:
    Mike Baxter

    Ad & drinks photography:
    Jodie Mann

    Neon:
    Black Box Signs

    Mixologist:
    Plato Moysiadis

    Signpainter:
    Thomas Paints

    Print:
    Windmill Print

    Motion:
    Andy Tomlinson

    Art Direction, Design & Photography:
    Asa Rodger (Page)

Pre-launch campaigning // Credit: photography Jodie Mann
Building the brand happened in tandem with the interiors
The House of Gods wordmark logo leans heavily on classic typography with custom lettering
Creating a functional colour palette, in harmony with the interiors direction and materials
THIS ISN'T JUST A MOCK-UP – WE REALLY DID POSTER EDINBURGH'S COWGATE

The story

Have you ever heard of a ‘start-up’ hotel? No, I hadn’t either. The whole business from Mike & Ross Baxter was grossly ambitious. “Who needs another hotel named after a rich guy’s wife?” ...these were the kind of quips Mike rhetorically asked while talking through the concept. Everyone waxes lyrical about bravery in branding and being a disruptive challenger, but House of Gods genuinely do it – from postering Edinburgh’s cobbled Cowgate, panelling the bar with neon-lit Gucci ‘Heron’ wallpaper, painting a Rolls Royce their claret red, or creating a cocktail book around infamous stories of hotel hedonism – not much is off limits.

As a building site flourished into the oak-panelled, velvet-clad hotel, the overall proposition matured, with the company aiming to ‘democratise luxury’. This tone and creative direction is what trickled down through every part of the brand.

Over the course of two years, the work with the owners included brand design, art direction, design and photography to help bring the lofty hotel vision to life while creating a universal brand system. Aside from helping bring the vision to reality, and secure funding, the work then went on to not only be nominated but win the Scottish Design Awards for the Best Brand Design category, while stacked up against some of the country’s best agencies.

The logo redrawn for Neon production // Credit: Production by Black box neon
Pre-launch photography for the hotel

“The design skills are clear to see. What’s unseen, is Asa’s ability to understand & contribute to a client’s vision – creating a beautiful & commercial design.”

– Mike Baxter, Owner at House of Gods

The logo gold gilded on a claret red Rolls royce // Credit: signpainter thomas payne
houseofgodshotel.com // design & build with Squarespace
PRE-LAUNCH 'TEASER' SOCIAL CONTENT @HOUSEOFGODSHOTEL
COCKTAIL MENU CONCEPT 'ROCK N ROLL HOTEL DEBAUCHERY' // CREDIT: DRINKS PHOTOGRAPHY JODIE MANN, MIXOLOGIST PLATO MOYSIADIS

Thank you.

A massive thank you goes out to Mike & Ross Baxter – for the vision, care and having me along for the ride as part of this incredible, courageous project.