Watson curates eight typefaces for Motto by Hilton’s location system

Watson’s identity for Motto by Hilton matches typography to location, so that Motto Chelsea NYC – set in Brewery’s calligraphic letterforms – looks different to Motto Times Square NYC in Basis Grotesque’s friendly geometric sans. The system came from a strategic repositioning that aims to establish the lifestyle hotel as something distinct from its corporate parent, a place where globally savvy travellers can plug into vibrant neighbourhoods. The brief arrived as what Mauro Simeon, Associate Design Director at Watson, describes as “a common branding challenge. Motto’s brand design and strategy at the time did not reflect the brand’s future vision. Before our update, Motto lacked an ownable positioning and was in need of a bold reimagining.” That reimagining centred on a simple insight about the target guest: someone seeking an independent approach to hospitality rather than the familiar comforts of a global chain. Watson’s response was to build locality into the DNA at the typographic level, creating location logos that pair the Motto wordmark with city names rendered in typefaces matched to neighbourhood character. Curating those eight typefaces – Helvetica Now, Sentinel, Basis Grotesque, FS Benjamin, Brewery, Vanguardia, Quarto and Cotford – required what Simeon calls “significant time in curating a selection that feels cohesive as a family, yet is expressive enough to distil the energy of a neighbourhood.”