Apple Pie Inn

Identity System, Hospitality Design, Art Direction

2019

Apple Pie Inn is a rebrand of Big Sur River Inn & Restaurant on California’s Highway One. Opened in 1934, it was the first hotel in Big Sur area that started with serving hot apple pies to the guests in the owner’s living room. It has been a popular accommodation for travelers for decades and is still serving apple pies with the original recipe today.

Built on the banks of the Big Sur River and under redwoods, Apple Pie Inn is deeply influenced by its natural environment. With the naming, identity, and collaterals and social media, Apple Pie Inn conveys a rustic, nostalgic, and soothing brand voice, celebrating its history and the nature that connects the past and the present.

With an illustrative approach, the logo takes inspirations from redwood tree rings and a slice of apple pie, which are the critical elements that make Apple Pie Inn unique. The shape of “A“ in the logo mark also speaks for the name.