Sunday, September 9, 2012

The Polynesian Resort


Welcome back to another edition of our Designerland typography case studies. This week, we'll jump back on the monorail and head over to another Disney home away from home, the Polynesian Resort.

When looking at the type treatments throughout the resort, one thing is certain: this resort is loaded with display fonts. These are all heavily-themed tropical (and sometimes comical) display fonts. This makes sense, given the tropical theme, but if you compare these fonts to a Disney resort actually located on a Polynesian island, you'll see a big difference. The Aulani doesn't need to really need to shove the tropical theme in your face since you're actually IN Hawaii, so the typography there is a little more subdued.




When the Polynesian first opened under the original name, the Polynesian Village, Disney designers used a more 70’s, non-tropical font to brand the hotel. The font Blippo, designed by typographer Robert Trogman, was used to typeset the logo, but over time those whimsical tropical display fonts crept their way in and made the Poly their home. In the 90’s we see Blippo replaced with Rusticana, which was designed by Frutiger as part of a type revival for the Linotype Foundry.  


I'm a huge fan of the Poly and I always loved how even down to the fonts, the resort reflects the beloved kitsch from the late 50’s and early 60’s. The fonts help tell the story even if sometimes it hits us over the head with tiki goodness (although in my opinion you can never have enough). Well that does it for this week’s post. Tune in next week for a new Retro '71 shirt concept. Thanks for dropping in and I hope you all have a swell week!