Hospitality Design - November 2016 - 110

new icons

the brand guru

steven
mark
klein
Founder, Designer, and Theorist
LOGOMFG, a division of BLKMTNLAB

Photo by JEFFREY MOSIER

From growing up in Brooklyn, New York, to studying art theory at the
School of Visual Arts, Steven Mark Klein may be a "man with no name,"
as he puts it, but his discerning branding stamp rooted in contemporary
culture is on a long list of global consumer brands like Montblanc,
Iridium, and Swatch, and emblematic hospitality projects, from
Thompson and SIXTY Hotels to the Hollywood Roosevelt and James
Hotels, to a spate of New York projects for restaurateur John McDonald
(including the Gordon Bar and Sessanta in the SIXTY SoHo), among
others. The man who has been called a cultural savant shares career
influences, his one question for Dieter Rams, and where hospitality might
be going.

Describe what you do.
I author brand names and design brand logos (identities) for independent
hotel projects, hotel groups, and restaurants. I also author brand
narratives, which can encompass the creation of all forms of branded
deliverables and messaging. The work ranges from old to new media. I
consult if a client requests on interior design and architectural direction.

How did you end up where you are professionally?
The defining period for my branding work is when I was a contemporary
art theory student from 1968 to 1972 at the School of Visual Arts [in New
York]. My courses led by conceptual artist Joseph Kosuth etched in my
mind a deep sense of philosophical justification for my own solutions.

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November 2016 hospitalitydesign.com

What's the best piece of advice you ever received?
To take a leap outside one's fate, to paraphrase a quote by Romanian
philosopher E.M. Cioran.

Who do you consider an iconic hospitality veteran?
In 1999, [the late] Alex Calderwood opened the first Ace Hotel in Seattle;
simultaneously André Balazs opened the first Standard hotel in West
Hollywood. André already owned [New York's] Mercer Hotel and [West
Hollywood's] Chateau Marmont. Almost 20 years later the hospitality
industry has had many interesting hotels open, but in 2017 [we are] due
for a similar transformative moment as what happened in 1999. Someone
or something-idea or technology-is out there, and it will be exciting to
see what explodes onto the scene.

How has hospitality changed in the last two decades?
Hospitality has been completely changed by the emergence of more
people having access to the internet, advanced smartphone technology,
and the arrival of a culture driven by online opinion.

What can the retail, airline, and auto industries learn from
hospitality?
A simple real world example: In the Greenpoint neighborhood in
Brooklyn, luxury car brand BMW is creating from an old warehouse
an experience it has branded Amalgamated Drawing Office or ADO
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Hospitality Design - November 2016

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