Watson channels the works of Glaser and Lubalin for The Florian

A beautiful wordmark sits at the centre of Watson’s identity for The Florian: a small-cap italic serif weighted with swashes and flourishes, drawn from the lineage of New York lettering. To shape it, the NYC-based agency looked closely at the work of Milton Glaser and Herb Lubalin, two iconic designers whose typography carries the unmistakable feel of mid-century Manhattan. The result is a wordmark for a Gramercy Park residence that feels like it has always been on the building. “Gramercy Park has such a rich visual language to draw from,” explains Olivia Kane, Associate Art Director at Watson. “For the wordmark, we wanted something rooted in typographic tradition. And not just anywhere, but specifically New York; Gramercy is such a quintessential neighbourhood of the city.” The flourishes carry a double meaning, nodding both to tradition and to the greenery that defines the area. To stop them tipping into decoration, Watson anchored the swashes against a restrained serif, holding the lettering steady so the ornament reads as added character. Reaching that point meant spending time with the neighbourhood, and specifically with its paper trail. The team pulled together menus, postcards and matchbooks alongside the engraved typography that welcomes visitors into Gramercy Park and the intricate ironwork lining its sidewalks. The materials revealed a version of the area shaped by its arts and crafts traditions, which became the brief that the rest of the identity answered to. “When you dig into Gramercy’s old New York heritage, you find a neighbourhood that’s always stayed true to itself,” Kane shares. “It wasn’t dusty, stuffy or pretentious. It reflected the arts and culture the neighbourhood has quietly fostered for generations.”