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.