Creativity checks out with Holiday Inn revamp

The revamped identity for Holiday Inn represents a perfect example of ‘gobbling up the execution and spitting out the concept’.

The last thing I want to do is to come over as some crusty brand luddite, hung-up on images of the past. The classic retro script of the original identity, while wonderfully evocative and ‘ratpack’ in nature, no doubt needed rejuvenation.

That said, in this ‘age of ideas’, we’re presented with an image devoid of both charisma and concept.

While taking the first letter of the name and creating a monogram may be ‘devilishly’ clever, I fear it may not be enough.

Please don’t tell me ‘it’s a contemporary evolution of the original script that cleverly balances the need to embrace new consumers without alienating our loyalists’.

Oh, and by the way, if I see another bastardised font masquerading as handcrafted originality, I think I’ll throw ‘Inn’ the towel!

Tim Bousfield, Creative director, Path, London SW18