Palmer House

The Palmer House Hilton is an icon in Chicago and throughout the world. It is the longest continuously operating hotel in North America and truly an architectural gem. The clientele ranges from regional leisure travelers to heads of state and the exceptional staff make them all feel right at home. The property is also consistently awarded top honors in the hospitality field. It’s also an important piece of Chicago History, serving as the springboard to rebuilding the city after the Great Chicago Fire burned down the hotel, and to History in general – it is where the elevator was invented, upon Potter Palmer’s suggestion., and the Brownie, which was his wife Bertha’s challenge to her pastry chefs to create a new dessert for the Columbian Exhibition World’s Fair of 1893. When I began my role as Hiltons of Chicago Creative Services Manager in 2008, a new logo and colors that had been established from an external agency served as a starting point for my interpretation of the Palmer House brand. The look was mostly black, with gold or bronze treatments and plenty of the powerful architectural elements. Over the years, I began to build my own legacy and transform the hotel's visual identity into a successful blend of the historic with the modern elements of the hotel. Working for a historic landmark in Chicago, now nearly 150 years old, any marketing campaign or design for the hotel needs to acknowledge and celebrate its history, location and importance to the city of Chicago. Many historic “firsts” happened within the walls of the Palmer House and I have incorporated these into several projects. The lightbulb as the hotel was the first to be built with electricity, the first elevator was conceived by Palmer Potter (founder of the hotel) and finally, the Brownie was invented by Potter’s wife, Bertha. I’ve slightly modified elements of the brand’s look from year to year, usually the logo treatments and typographic styles. Beyond the usual collateral, I conceived more offbeat campaigns like filling the iconic lobby with sharks and tying in potential corporate partners' branding to the Palmer House in order to win their business.