Five studios were invited to the tender. Four from Bratislava and us. We packed the entire REMEMBERSHIP_ and went to the debrief.Just before the final “send suggestions to the second one, we will look forward to...” we asked if we could still meet in the Tatras — directly at the Hotel Lomnica. I mean, at the construction site. And we immediately introduced the condition of cooperation: we insist on an introductory workshop, with the client and his whole team. We had no problem with competition at the workshop as well. We were confident we had to go deep. And the client nodded at it.

We took it for the first time in early February and the whole iteration was repeated 20 more times.

After the first night in the Tatras we were waiting for an introductory workshop. There were 13 of us — from the investor to the hotel management and ordinary staff to colleagues from Seesame agency and rival agencies. We wanted to suck genius loci, we should have had it. With helmets on our heads, we walked through the historic -- and just renovated -- part of the hotel. We reached the jungle behind the hotel, which was to be transformed into a modern part of the hotel within a year. We did not believe, but impossible things happen in the Tatras — we became convinced of this in October, when we waded through the snow here. The unimo cell became our refuge for the next three hours, but the structure is the structure. Peter took the floor, and the workshop could begin.

Tremendous enthusiasm and exceptional dedication. If we won the tender, we would be working on a project that has 122 years of history, operated before and after the war and is now, with our help, embarking on another hundred.

Setting expectations is a great (and often underrated) tool for starting collaborations. The client will hear immediate expectations of the entire team that they might otherwise never have known about.

And we, as a studio, are peering under the lid. And we also set our expectations. We don't want to be a contractor, out of conviction we have to be a co-creator.

Our condition was to do everything together. Therefore, the director of the hotel is also sitting in the workshop, and in the benefits we receive his post-it “owner in personal contact with the host”.

We know that this is not a daily practice, but it is all the more clear to us that the person of the owner is very close with the genius loci of this place. The fact that the director spends every day on the construction site is not a matter of course, but another feature of this collaboration.

We know that this is not a daily practice, but it is all the more clear to us that the person of the owner is very close with the genius loci of this place. The fact that the director spends every day on the construction site is not a matter of course, but another feature of this collaboration.

The expectations of Mr. Eduardo, the head of staff who had already opened three Tatra hotels, disarmed us. Eduard says this is the pinnacle of his career. We asked the director why he decided to buy and renovate the hotel. He lives in the village next door and loves Tatry. Our common goal will be for Tatry to love him, his team, Hotel Lomnica and the guests who come here. Our first Tatra adventure was over, the next journey (not just the train one) was ahead of us.

The task was clear, the creative brief came next. In the document, we summarize the most important points of the product (i.e. service or brand), target groups and determine the direction of cooperation. In the brief we also include the focus question that we defined after the workshop and also the most important points from the brief from the client.

Focus Question is the beacon behind which we are headed along the way. We refined this method by summarizing the project assignment into one or more questions. In a question, we define a problem or a need—we look for the WHY. And where else to look for “why” than in the Tatras themselves. We spent the weekend in Tatranská Lomnica during the creation of the creative concept. We wanted to be in the place, soak up its atmosphere and get to know the environment we were going to design for. And our “being” paid off. It helped us to understand and define the most important goal for the client. Not only for Hotel Lomnica, but also for Tatranská Lomnica, Tatra, locals and finally guests:

We know what we want and we're going for it. The creative concept we want to design for Hotel Lomnica must be more than just a logo and a visual. We know they must:

• 

  reflect the spirit of the Tatras

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  show history and build on it

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  locals give joy to the reopening of the hotel
  

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  underline the enthusiasm of the investor and his team

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  ostentatious as the time of the greatest glory of the hotel under Austria-Hungary
  

We believe that Hotel Lomnica is looking for partners for long-term cooperation. That's why we propose the whole story -- the philosophy behind the concept. It costs us a few brainstorming sessions and nights at the office, but we have two main concepts to present in the tender.

We took to heart everything the owners and team of the hotel told us, as well as what we heard from the locals. And we knew that was it — just as in the 20th century Hotel Lomnica was a cultural and social center, it will be such a place even a century later. The whole concept was our materialized idea of a genius loci place, like the Spirit of Tatier. A very original concept was created with mystical elements — the kind that make Hotel Lomnica a legend. The logo contained everything that makes Hotel Lomnica unique: for example, the historic rampart or the Lomnice shield could not be missing, and the whole visual was complemented by the FUTURA font by Paul Renner, one of the most important typographers.

But Hotel Lomnica is not just a hotel, it is a unique gear. And so restaurants, cafes and wine bars also got their marks. And later, the gallery.

The second concept was about what the Tatras are really about. About the strength and return of their true face.

We get back on the train. We perform under the Tatra Mountains and after 4 hours in a meeting room with the hotel team we are presented. And we sense a chance. The concept of “The Spirit of Tatier” has been relegated to the sidelines. Not because of the idea, but the title. The owners want something nobler than “ghost.” We agree and we are glad that the client perceives our work as a journey. And so we are on our way again, towards Prague. We agreed to modify the design. We know that conceptually the story is correct, but the visual representation needs to be simplified. And so we simplify, simplify and... simplify. Little remained of the first draft. We send the proposal to the hotel, receive thanks and wait for a decision.

539 hours and 38 minutes. That's exactly how much work we have at the end of February.

The end of March and we are still waiting. In April, a longed-for phone call comes from the hotel manager Zuzana. Then we call each other several times and decide what will be best for the hotel. But already then we had partial victories. We know that management likes our work and above all — our approach. We broke the fear that we are not from Bratislava by putting our best effort into working for the client. And then came the biggest victory.

539 hours and 38 minutes. That's exactly how much work we have at the end of February.

The end of March and we are still waiting. In April, a longed-for phone call comes from the hotel manager Zuzana. Then we call each other several times and decide what will be best for the hotel. But already then we had partial victories. We know that management likes our work and above all — our approach. We broke the fear that we are not from Bratislava by putting our best effort into working for the client. And then came the biggest victory.

We celebrate. And we evaluate. We know that the hotel chose us not because of the polished presentation, but because of the hard work done. We spent a lot of time in the Tatras and showed enormous enthusiasm for the project. We convinced the client that design is a journey, not a magic wand. Our approach to design won out on the full line. But our Tatra dream does not end here. In the second part of the case study, we show how important a conceptual approach and good design are. A connection that has made us work with the hotel until now.