The Carlton Tower
The Carlton Tower first launched in 1961, a bold modernist statement in the heart of Knightsbridge. Open, light, forward thinking and in the heart of a neighbourhood known for its garden squares, domestic tranquility and aspirational retail, F&B and well-being experiences. Almost fifty years after it first launched, The Carlton Tower closed for a complete refurbishment, reopening with a new identity, brand palette and campaign created by Construct.
Inspired by British typography of the 1960’s and the building's modernist heritage, Construct created a stacked brand marque and supporting monogram to give the brand identity flexibility across its many touch points. Using semi-serif letterforms with open characters and a sense of modern simplicity, crafted with a nod to tradition, encapsulating the new vision of the brand whilst respecting its place in history.
The brand marque blends elegant capitals with refined lowercase characters in a centred lock up. Typographic craft is refined and elegant with reference to script and serif letterforms. The ‘C’ curves in a thick and thin form echoing pen strokes and the 'W’ anchors the stacked marque with a crossed and extended flourish, visually uniting the complexity of the identity. Used primarily with the Jumeirah global brand as suffix, the brand identity has been crafted to optimise legibility at all sizes.
The monogram takes the 'C' and 'T' from the brand marque and stacks them in a square with the founding year in an unexpected way, reflecting the energy of 1960s London. Taking advantage of the mirrored '1961' numbers, the 'C' is balanced on top of 19, allowing the 'T' to hook into its counter, and balance the 61 on its top bar.
The identity is supported by a rich and layered brand palette including a soft, tactile colour and materials palette. A colour palette grounded in light grey and white, brought to life with brand colours of sage, blush and rust supported by black and grey.
Building on the brand identity work, Construct created and art directed the ‘Expect the Unexpected’ campaign consisting of four stories to mark the reopening of The Carlton Tower. Our approach conjured up a dreamlike world of incredible hospitality and service, where the boundaries between dreams and reality are blurred, and emotions are brought to life in a surreal visual narrative to expect the unexpected.
