Elma: Arts Complex Luxury Hotel
Creating a unique and special brand for a unique and special place.
The Elma Arts Complex Luxury Hotel is a special place, and the work we did for them occupies a special place in our hearts.
The vision of founder Lily Elstein and designed by award-winning architect Yaakov Rechter, Elma is entirely dedicated to the arts and is utterly unlike any other hotel, gallery or performance space in Israel. With approximately one hundred rooms and suites of the highest standards, the complex includes a chef restaurant, luxurious spa, both in- and outdoor pools and banquet and convention facilities. Magnificently situated atop the hills of Zichron Yaakov, Elma will sweep you away with the breathtaking views of the Mediterranean it offers from almost any location on its grounds.
It’s a truly spectacular place in every way, and we strived to create work that was worthy of it.
& Colors
A brand not just devoted to the arts, but inspired by them.
What makes Elma so special is what lies at its heart: a boundless appreciation and love for all the arts and the artists who create it. In addition to being a world-class hotel, it’s also a state-of-the-art interdisciplinary arts center, with two concert halls designed by acclaimed New York-based Artec consultants, several art galleries and a resident artist’s studio.
Our relationship with Elma has been remarkably productive and has included a dizzying variety of branded deliverables, including its complete visual identity, its brand story, the website, brochures, stationery and many, many others pieces. (Those laundry order forms, concert posters and tickets, door hangers and Elma key cards? We’ve got those covered, too.)
To date, we have created over 150 separate deliverables. At the start of our relationship, they were a team of six very busy people; today, they are over a hundred (but still very busy). It has been immensely rewarding to be involved in a project of this scope and vision from the very beginning with such talented and hardworking partners. In a place that has committed its very existence to the creation and appreciation of beauty, we could not be more proud that Natie played a part in it.
Elma: Arts Sub-branding
The Elma vision was so grand, it required a sub-brand to support it.
The Elma Arts Complex Luxury Hotel was conceived and designed to be a leading destination for cultural events of all kinds – concerts, art exhibitions, theatrical performances, dance recitals and much, much more.
So much more, in fact, that we created an Elma Arts sub-brand that was especially vibrant and energetic – something a bit unexpected, much like the art it celebrates.
Using the same color palette as the primary Elma brand, we developed a distinctive complementary pattern of angles, arrows and wider stripes to differentiate Elma Arts from the hotel, spa and restaurants while keeping it firmly rooted within the Elma family.
Branding is never more rewarding than when the brief is, “Celebrate beauty.”
For the Elma Arts sub-brand, we created brochures, one-pagers, invitations, playbills, posters, the foundation for digital creative work…all the myriad communications that accompany any world-class exhibit or performance.
Since these events are frequently the primary reason for people to travel to the Elma Arts Complex, a lot depended on getting these pieces exactly right. And because they change so frequently, it was also important to design a system that was flexible and easily customizable. Fortunately, these events were at the very heart of founder Lily Elstein’s concept for Elma, and we were able to work closely alongside her to bring her vision and passion to life.
Elma: Website
Just as Elma offers a window onto the world of art, its website offers a window onto the world of Elma.
The Elma Arts Complex Luxury Hotel is unlike any other place in the world. Located high atop the hills of Zichron Yaakov and with breathtaking views of the Mediterranean, it has to be experienced in person to be truly appreciated. So when it fell to us to try to capture this place that’s unlike any other hotel or arts complex on earth in a website…let’s just say we had our work cut out for us.
But we had been working closely with founder Lily Elstein on her vision for Elma from the beginning, and we had come to understand and share her passion.
Creating an Elma website nearly as expansive as the vision behind it.
The Elma website is one of the largest we’ve undertaken at over a hundred pages. Over the course of six months, we handled the information architecture, the design, all the writing… everything except the development, which was handled by Simplex.
With the Elma website, we strived to capture the complex’s beauty, sophistication, elegance and serenity – to let the spirit of Elma shine through unadorned simply because it needs no adornment. While no site could possibly convey what it’s like to be immersed in such a special place, we do feel like the Elma site is as special in the virtual world as the Elma Arts Complex Luxury Hotel is in the real one.
Elma: Spa Sub-branding
The Elma Spa
We took the brand we created for the elma arts complex luxury hotel in zichron ya’akov and reimagined it as a sub-brand for the elma spa. This incredible spa features a traditional turkish hammam, an amazing variety of indulgent skin and body treatments, and an indoor pool with breathtaking views of the mediterranean. in short, it’s nothing short of holy wow.
We incorporated cool, relaxing light blues and greens to reflect its natural surroundings and to give the elma spa its own serene identity while keeping it unmistakably part of the hotel as a whole. and whole is exactly how you’ll feel after a couple of hours there. Enjoy.
