Mucca draws on surrealist themes to launch Daxton Hotel And Madam restaurant

Brand studio, Mucca, worked with Michigan-based Daxton Hotel and its companion restaurant, Madam, to design an experience-driven brand identity inspired by avant-garde and surrealist themes.

Aparium Hotel Group, owner of Daxton Hotel and Madam, was determined to showcase what made its hospitality concept unique, highlighting its attention to detail and moments of surprise.

“Every client, whether the job be a hotel, a restaurant, or a product, wants to offer something unique – something different than what already exists in the world. Daxton and Madam definitely had something special, and our challenge was to define that unique quality and clearly communicate it,” says Mucca founder and creative director, Matteo Bologna.

Mucca engaged in a workshop process with Aparium to uncover each brand’s voice and higher purpose. The workshop not only gave the team a conceptual objective for the identity design, but acted as a guide for all future brand decisions.

“We quickly grabbed a hold of this idea: the symbiosis of dreams and reality that was driving the interior design,” says Mucca designer, Sean O’Connor. “The hotel was positioned to combine soul and vibrancy with the alluring intrigue of the dramatic and surreal world.”

The formulaic geometry of the black and white floor tiles in the suites, the geodesic dome structure in the lobby and the mechanic gold unicorn in the lobby all evoke a sense of escapism and distort the surroundings. Mucca used these assets as primary inspiration to build a wider graphic language.

For Madam, Mucca sought to convey the essence of ‘California fresh’ cuisine typographically, explains O’Connor. “The logo evokes a certain fluidity that feels like it could have almost been written in olive oil. This Miró-esc lettering style was carried through the full menu system with an extensive bank of custom drawn category and section headers,” he says.