Marking a legacy
for the Royal Mail Hotel
PROJECT
Rebrand
CLIENT
Royal Mail Hotel Dunkeld
ROLE
Creative Direction
Graphic Design
Copy + Brand Voice
At the foothills of the Grampians, the sleepy little town of Dunkeld holds a well-kept secret. The Royal Mail Hotel has been serving world-class fine dining from its two-chef-hatted restaurant, housing the southern hemisphere’s largest private collection of wines and offering luxury accommodation to match.
But with recent renovations to the property came the opportunity to reinvigorate the brand’s identity, find its unique story and proudly mark it on the map for Australian audiences.
The client asked us to create something sophisticated and simple, that would show a contemporary twist on its rich history, honouring the four key values of what they offer — food, wine, people and place.
I created a ‘postmark’ using four furrow lines. Each furrow represents one key value — food, wine, people and place — as well as providing a visual shorthand for each word in the name.
We took inspiration from the very first stamps used on this historic postal route, cutting a brand new wordmark from the lettering we found in its legacy.
The Royal Mail cellar houses over 28,000 bottles of incredible wines — the largest private collection in the southern hemisphere. So it made sense for the Cellars brand to celebrate place. We used satellite imagery of Dunkeld to show off the region in the packaging, as a surprise moment upon opening.
This identity system allowed us to extend the brand as it grew to include the Royal Mail Hotel Cellars, Wickens restaurant as well as future plans for the kitchen garden and a wellness centre.
