Brad’s Dessert Inn is the quintessential historic Route 66 motel in the heart of the southwestern desert. The challenge was to create a brand reminiscent of the 1960’s, that captured both the essence of the desert and the history and excitement of the famous Route; while remaining “approachable, friendly, warm and safe, yet still a little wild and free.” We leveraged simple, iconic mediums that represent the desert with cactus and mountains, integrating arrows that point forward out into the wild west (and to the motel itself). The road signage was by far our favorite part, with hours of research spent looking at old Route 66 highway motel signs from the 60s and 70s. Being slightly trite or tacky is, for once, okay in branding and design circumstances like this one, where we’re trying to invoke a very specific aesthetic that brings the audience back to a time period and setting.