Ibis hotel-mini brief

As responsive is a very open module, it was decided to complete an extra small brief in which I personally found suiting to my practice. The brief itself was set by that of Ibis Hotels who are looking for a design piece to be exhibited in their new Yorkshire themed hotel.

The brief

'We are looking to commission a piece of artwork that conveys what Leeds and the Yorkshire area means to you, the artist. The chosen artwork will be displayed behind the reception area.

We are completely open to style but we do want digital submissions as we plan to scale up the successful designs to fit the size of the space and curvature of the wall.'

Initial thoughts gained upon the brief were that the brief expressed appeared very personal and thus this must be my own interpretation of Yorkshire. The brief is also very open and thus research must be conducted into the county, and business.

The deadline date is also on the 16th of March, and thus I only have 10 days to complete the brief. 

Some initial ideas were formulated surrounding aspects of the brief. Some ideas include 'what makes yorkshire yorkshire', heritage, the culture of leeds. As the hotel would be situated in Leeds it is fair to suggest that the deisgn may have a large focus upon the city, although other key aspects should be included. 

Research (secondary) 

'Ibis is an international hotel company owned by AccorHotels, a hotel holding company. AccorHotels is listed on the Paris Stock Exchange and was founded in 1967. Ibis opened its founding hotel in 1974 and in January 2014 the company opened its one-thousandth hotel in Surabaya, Indonesia. Around 400 Ibis Hotels are throughout France and most of the remainder are elsewhere in Europe. The hotels are generally close to city centres, airports or railway stations, and offer low rates compared to many global hotel groups of comparable size.' They also have over 2000 hotels worldwide.

http://www.ibis.com/gb/world/hotels-ibis-monde.shtml

From configuring the details upon their interactive map, it is apparent that there are currently 91 Ibis hotels within the United Kingdom. There are currently three Ibis hotels in Leeds, with the new Yorkshire hotel being that of the fourth. The yorkshire hotel will also be the closest hotel to that of the city centre and thus it must be considered who will be staying in the hotel. 

The general people who stay in Leeds hotels are:

-Business individuals 

-People on city breaks (usually weekends)

-Individuals visiting Leeds and Bradford airport

-Families visiting their children at University

From completing this list it is evident that the design itself should be sleek yet have a strong narrative and express Yorkshire as an friendly inviting place. An initial mind maps were completed focusing upon how I personally interpret Yorkshire, as a visitor, myself, to the city. 

When thinking specifically about what Yorkshire means to myself one theme in which I found influential was that of it being my 'second home'. As many visitors will also find Leeds atmosphere highly welcoming a friendly this may also be applied to them. Another idea in which I stated about yorkshire was that of its culture, including language and food. These may also be added to the design. When discussing these ideas with my peers it was suggested that these two themes were the strongest and that they could easily be applied to a piece of artwork. In reference to this further mindmaps were developing outlining key facts in which may be used. 

A mind map was developed upon the culture of Yorkshire, including that of the 1st ever film recording. Other key cultural events were listed such as Mandela's visit, live at leeds, food and language. This was developed in order to complete a basis of what builds Yorkshire. 

Iconic events in which have occurred were also listed, alongside Yorkshires strongest attributes. The olympics were mentioned, alongside Yorkshire being the county in which won the most gold medals. The national rail museum had a large mention, alongside that of the first ever bottle bank being developed. As Leeds is also attempting to gain the status of city of culture 2020, this must also be included. 

The idea of Leeds being my second home was also explored. The welcoming atmosphere of Leeds was highlighted, alongside that of it being a city being built up of students. Key iconography could be used in order to resemble this, such as houses etc. 

Yorkshire iconic iconography was listed, as these buildings may be used in order to complete a design. It was also decided that iconic Leeds activities could be highlighted, as in hotels they often have flyers of things to do etc. And thus this could be an iconic way in which to transform this.