Mayfair
Places
Mayfair. Forever Fashionable.
Arguably the most famous district in London is changing.
New shops, new dining, new places to see and be seen in are reshaping this, the most glamorous part of London.
Grosvenor Estates turned to SomeOne to help develop a new strategy. We set out to develop a visual and verbal identity system to better reflect the districts’ changing offers and help reconnect this, the epitome of timeless London style, to a discerning audience tired of flimsy promises.
This is a district that the world’s greatest brands call home. This was a new brand project that had to comfortably work alongside The Connaught, Roland Mouret, The Biltmore, Christian Louboutin and Balenciaga.
Winner
Best Graphics
2021 Creative Pool Annual
‘Most inspiring design of the year’
CreativePool 2021
Project background
Since the annual “May Fair” dating back to the late seventeenth century that gave the district its name, Mayfair has radiated glamour and excitement, its rich legacy living on today in its iconic restaurants, hotels and shops.
Today, notions of luxury and the shopper have changed.
Grosvenor Estates worked with SomeOne on the opportunity to re-affirm Mayfair’s status and create a new brand identity,
We set out to reflect the district’s iconic status for the long term while appealing to its contemporary, international audience.
Extensive research showed Mayfair is still very much an aspirational area — but its reputation would benefit by being more accessible to a wider spectrum of visitor, who previously dismissed it as beyond their reach.
RE-‘ESTABLISHING’ MayfaiR
To cement a refreshed reputation for the next century, the new strategic brand work pays tribute to heritage and provides a welcoming, contemporary setting for today’s aspirational brands.
A new bespoke wordmark now has provenance with the addition of ‘Established 1686’. Complete with a crafted, historic ‘st’ ligature for those in the typographic know…
A bright, electric blue now provides a signature primary colour for the district — a nod to the hue of its property square on the world-famous Monopoly Board.
BRAND WORLD ASSETs
Working alongside these elements is a new typeface and a variable, continuous ‘M wave’.
The wave is designed to enrich communications and codify Mayfair’s ever-fashionable status in much the same way as a Chanel diamond or Goyard chevron.
The new visual theme can be represented as a simple pattern or an elegant curving ribbon or a line of words.
It’s able to flex to match its context, and extend to a new typographic suite of assets.
The audiences for Mayfair as a brand are many.
Both local and global groups, requiring national and international marketing across digital and print.
The work needed to also resonate with both current and potential tenants and corporate clients.
The identity needed to have the areas implicit stature as well as acting in a more explicit, contemporary manner.
As a bold, colour-led brand with flexible, bespoke assets, Mayfair can fully live up to our new positioning of ‘Forever Fashionable’. While new, the work here is based on timeless ideals that are proven to serve. It’s now an artfully curated, safe space to experiment with the art of the possible.
In addition to the Looping M, we designed, developed and produced a series of numerals to help elevate tenant-focused business communications.
Using the same elegantly looping ribbon style, we used FS Siena’s character forms as a starting point and introduced stroke width by revealing the reverse side of the ribbon.
It’s been a seamless experience. What made working with SomeOne such a pleasure was their immediate understanding of what makes Mayfair unique — they have created such a smart and striking visual identity — that’s not only built for today but made to last.
With the areas devotion to craft — it made sense for us to go the extra mile in creating design intricacies in assets such as the CGI numerals. While a significant labour of love for us, I think that extra care, love and attention really shows. Unlike so many underwhelming place branding schemes, this work is deeply considered rather than surface mounted.
This was no small endeavour — working with an extensive team to bring a new strategy to life — with such a distinct brand identity is never easy — but this is arguably London’s most iconic location and we wanted to overdeliver, it deserved the extra effort everyone brought to the project.
Huge thanks to Katie, Ben, Danny and all the Grosvenor Team for helping create such a compelling outcome.