This is Max
This name stemmed from the term ‘Maximising the booking experience’ which was a mantra within HotelsCombined.
When approached with designing Max, there were a few guideline to steer within from the get go. One, the reference came from an earlier project we had done years earlier called Wrigley’s, and Two, he had to be an embodiment of the HotelsCombined culture. So what did that mean? Well we took reference from characters like Roy and Moss from the IT Crowd and mixed that with the resin toys that you often find within the disruption culture. He needed to reflect the lean and agile tech start up culture, be a problem-solver and overall we wanted him to be reluctantly cute and somewhat disarming. All of this was meant to take place in a character that needed to be embraced by the co-workers at HotelsCombined.
HOTELSCOMBINED
Scope of work
Character Design | VFX | Creative Direction | Branding | Editorial | Colouring
Client
HotelsCombined
Date
June | 2015
The Project
HotelsCombined is a world leading hotel price comparison website available in 42 languages and with over 300 million yearly visitors. What they needed was an online presence that was brand strong, representative of their playful culture and memorable. They’ve got a laid back & agile start up culture with technology at its core that took what they did very seriously, but did not take themselves too seriously.. which is something we can completely understand.
Spearheading the rebrand was an agency called Interbrand and it was their hard work that got HotelsCombined to invest their interest in making their brand ‘Character-centric’. So props to them. How that character will look, act and lead the brand creative is where Supervixen stepped in. The character’s name is Max, and as HotelsCombined put it, Supervixen are Max’s parents.
Iconography
Another large part of designing Max, was knowing that the client wanted to use Max’s image in the app icon for all smart devices. This came with the prerequisite that we include a blue triangle as that was established in earlier branding outlines. Knowing that, we started with the broader brushstrokes of silhouette work and gradually refined the design of Max from there.
A note from the CEO
Over the last couple of years, Supervixen have been instrumental in helping bring the HotelsCombined identity to life and build our brand awareness globally. Their unique blend of humility, professionalism, creativity and problem solving attitude makes them really easy to work with and renders them… a natural extension of our team.
— Hichame Assi, CEO HotelsCombined
Since starting to collaborate with Supervixen and their general rebrand, HotelsCombined have experienced 105% increase in leads, 63% increase in bookings and 32.5% increase in revenue growth.
Banners, Content & Animations for the Web
Some examples of web banners and other content that was designed for HotelsCombined's various international online marketing efforts, sponsorships and partner communication around the globe.
Credits
Studio: Supervixen Studios
Creative Directors: Morten Rowley, Daniel Bavell
Producer: Ian Johnson
Character Design: Morten Rowley
POST PRODUCTION CO: Supervixen Studios
VFX Supervisor: Morten Rowley
Editor: Daniel Bavell
Colourist: Daniel Bavell
3D: George Psomas, Ashley Ross
Compositor: Zelco Dejanovic
Music: Klang