Building a new Maldivian hospitality brand for the island’s original tourism pioneers.
Essendi Resorts
- Naming
- Brand strategy
- Brand identity
- Brand book + guidelines
- Website design + build
Brand
Essendi is a new Maldivian hospitality brand built on family values, Maldivian heritage, and a quiet belief in doing things with a heartfelt passion. Born from Seagull Group’s reputation for helping define the tourism industry of the Maldives, the brand reflects a spirit of warmth, ease, and generosity.
We were commissioned to help bring the family’s next chapter to life – shaping a hospitality brand that honours their story, while offering something personal and purposeful to a global audience. The aim was to define a positioning that felt true to the place, the people, and the kind of hospitality only they could offer.
Digital
Developing the brand from the ground up, we started with naming, proposition, and identity, before building out the full brand system. Every element, from tone of voice to visual expression, was designed to feel quietly confident and naturally warm. The result is a brand that reflects the values of the family behind it and lays the foundation for everything to come.
Insight
The value of the fam trip
Did you know there are over 20 different names for the shades of blue in the waters surrounding the Maldives? No, neither did we. This is the real value of a familiarisation trip. Spending time with the client, exploring together and chatting over dinner, reveals the kind of golden nuggets of information you won’t find sitting in the studio and relying on Google or ChatGPT for your research. That and discovering the price of lobster on the menu is based on weight!
Connie
Senior Designer
