#Moving <set color="#ff0000">with the spirit of the nation</set>
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Creating a luxury brand experience that brings Chinese cultural heritage and imperial aesthetic to inspire contemporary audiences.

Diaoyutai

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#### In brief
In western Beijing lies Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, an ancient royal retreat built more than 800 years ago by Emperor Zhangzong of the Jin Dynasty. Surrounded by lakes, waterfalls and imperial gardens, Diaoyutai is now a state diplomatic hospitality destination, renowned for its exquisite dining experience, service and etiquette, and craftsmanship of imperial place environments, that has hosted diplomats and foreign dignitaries for generations. 

With a vision to bring an ethos of Chinese hospitality to the world stage, Diaoyutai State Guesthouse joined MGM Resorts International to form Diaoyutai MGM Hospitality, an unrivalled luxury group of hotels and resorts, residences, retail, and entertainment destinations around the world. 

With new openings in Qingdao, Zhuhai and Shenzhen, and properties in Hangzhou and Chengdu, Diaoyutai MGM Hospitality partnered with Design Bridge and Partners to create a new brand for the Diaoyutai Hotels name. The ambition was to capture ancient Chinese cultural heritage and the aesthetic of traditional imperial mansions for a new generation of travellers and culture connoisseurs. 

Our task was to create a brand for the group, with an individual flair for each Diaoyutai hotel, and develop a strategy, identity, tone of voice and brand experience that will express the essence of Chinese cultural heritage and traditions to inspire contemporary audiences. 

#### What we did
We took inspiration from the renowned hospitality traditions of the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, an ancient Diaoyutai Imperial mansion of the Jin Dynasty. A living history that captures the spirit of the nation, its art, tastes and experiences, transcending borders and generations. 

Our strategy was to translate this rich heritage, reputation for outstanding service and the traditional Chinese concept of the ‘master of the mansion’ into the new brand. This inspired our strategic platform, defining the brand as a cultural stage from which the audience is invited to discover the essence of Chinese hospitality traditions in a contemporary way. 

The brand aesthetic is rooted in the Dao belief that ‘experience without intent is to live through the senses’. In design, we brought this belief to life through a new sensory brand expression, developing the tone of voice and hotel brand experience principles to include music, scent and light, codifying the hospitality traditions of the master of the mansion. 

The visual identity system taps into the characteristics of traditional Chinese ambience, with symbols that are reminiscent of the mansion while also linked to a modern context. The wordmark of the logo is an artistic reinterpretation of the name, Diaoyutai, originally ‘Diao Yu Tai’, or ‘fishing terrace’, a name that has drawn in pen brushstrokes on the guesthouse mansion’s walls by Emperor Qianlong in the 18th century to mark a place of calm reflection, still visible today. The Chinese logo mark is accompanied with Garda Nova typeface in Latin, inspired by the writings of Renaissance calligrapher and scriptor, Francesco Cresci. 

The colour palette uses gold, ink, sage, red and cream – representing the colours of the imperial mansion aesthetic – while the photography style captures the beauty of the surrounding landscapes and craftsmanship of the hotels’ environments. In designing guest communications, we applied the dimensions and techniques of Xuan handmade rice paper, renowned for its longevity of thousands of years, to further emphasize the idea of Chinese tradition rooted in the brand. Meanwhile, every Diaoyutai hotel brand was given a seal – a shorthand symbol – that draws inspiration from its unique geographical location and heritage. Produced with metallic foil, or in full emboss, it adds a sense of luxury to all communications. 

For the launch we wanted to celebrate the heritage and individuality of the Diaoyutai master brand and the hotels within the group, drawing on their local cultural heritage. We transformed the identity into landscape art in motion, elevating each hotel’s extraordinary location. The Diaoyutai’s master brand logo was inspired by the painting “The Dwelling in Fuchun Mountain” by Huang Gongwang (1350 AD). The Hangzhou logo artwork captured its unique landscape encompassing mountain ranges and bodies of water, while Chengdu’s is conceptualized through the bamboo gardens surrounding the hotel. By digitizing traditional Chinese painting styles, brushstrokes and ink dots were brought to life in motion and applied throughout the hotel's environment and communications, creating a rich, immersive multi-sensory experience.

Diaoyutai State Guesthouse is an 800-year-old ancient royal retreat built during the Jin Dynasty. Today it is a state hospitality destination that has hosted diplomats and foreign dignitaries for generations. We partnered with Diaoyutai to create a new brand that would capture ancient Chinese cultural heritage and aesthetic of traditional imperial mansions for a new generation of travellers and culture connoisseurs.





A new brand for a new generation of travellers and culture connoisseurs

Brand film 

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Bringing Chinese cultural heritage and imperial aesthetic to contemporary audiences with a new brand for Diaoyutai, inspiration by the renowned hospitality traditions of the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.

Design Bridge and Partners | Diaoyutai

Superunion and Design Bridge come together to create Design Bridge and Partners. Redefining what design is and what design can do for brands, businesses, people and the planet. We are a revolutionary design partnership.

Design Bridge and Superunion come together to create Design Bridge and Partners. Redefining what design is and what design can do for brands, businesses, people and the planet. We are a revolutionary design partnership.

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Diaoyutai

Moving with the spirit of the nation