Creating the key graphic element that identifies a product or service and separates it from its competitors is a challenging design problem. The identity needs to be clear and memorable. It should be adaptable to extreme changes in scale, from a matchbox to a large illuminated sign. And it must embody the character and quality of what it identifies. This capturing of an intangible is an important feature of identity design, but it is also a subtle talent.

Hotel Hankyu International is the flagship hotel for the Hankyu Corporation, a huge, diversified Japanese company. It is relatively small for a luxury hotel, with only six floors of accommodations. The client wanted to establish the hotel as an international hotel, rather than a Japanese hotel. In Japan, “international” mean European or American. Consequently, the client did not look to Japanese designers, but they hired Pentagram-with the understanding that the hotel's emblem would be a flower, since flowers are universally associated with pleasure.

The identity was commissioned first, before other visual decisions (such as those about the interior architecture) were made. Here the graphic designer could set the visual agenda. Rather than one flower, six flowers were designed as the identity, one for each floor. To differentiate itself in its market, this small luxury hotel benefited from an extravagant design. Each flower is made up of four lines that emerge from the base of a square. The flowers are reminiscent of the 1920s Art Deco period, which suggest sophistication and world travel. Color and related typefaces link the flowers. One typeface is a custom-designed, slim Roman alphabet with proportions similar to those of the flowers. The other consists of Japanese characters and was designed by a Japanese firm.

The identity appears on signage, room folder, stationery, packaging, and other hotel amenities. It is clear and memorable and conveys a sense of luxury. Designers working with identity design need to be skilled manipulators of visual abstraction, letterforms, and design systems.