Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa × Leatherius Woodman – a leather stamping study
From the Practice Log – an ongoing series of stamping studies on real-world marks.
A September study.
Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa stands at 400 Cannery Row, on the beachfront, in their own words “above the crashing surf of the Pacific.” The spa is on the roof, two whirlpool tubs and, the site promises, “views of otters.” Downstairs are Schooners and Coastal Kitchen. The line we kept returning to is theirs as well: classic California coastal experiences “animated by an irresistible spirit of conviviality and play.”
The mark is two dolphins leaping nose to tail in a circle, navy on white, over MONTEREY PLAZA in a quiet serif and HOTEL & SPA letterspaced beneath. It is compact, it stacks, and it was made for a tag that stands upright on a suitcase handle. We pressed it four ways, then let the bay suggest the rest.
The mark, as found
Pressed, four ways
Golden arizona tan and navy blueberry, the two leathers their palette asked for. Each one takes the dolphins twice: a blind press, tone on tone, the way most people prefer a stamp, and a gold foil press for the guest who likes a little light on the handle. Same die, four tags.
Hold fast
Sea otters wrap themselves in kelp before they sleep so the tide cannot carry them off, and the part of the kelp that grips the rock is called the holdfast. We drew the otter asleep in its ribbon of kelp over the words HOLD FAST. A guest who came to the bay to do the same will know. Deep forest green, the color of the kelp.
Cannery Row
The street is the address, and the street was sardines. So the tin rolls open on its key and inside, packed in a neat row, lie five small suitcases instead of fish, under the words CANNERY ROW. Warm country gray, close to the tin.
Checked in
A pelican on a piling, bill tucked, a small suitcase at its feet, over CHECKED IN. It is the bird that never leaves the wharf, and the two words belong to the front desk and to the baggage counter at once. On turquoise, which comes out of the press a pale sea-blue.
Above the surf
Their own phrase, drawn as a night. A bed on four tall pilings, blanket turned down, a thin moon above, and three rows of breaking waves below, under the words ABOVE THE SURF. Dark espresso, for the hour it depicts.
Monterey Bay
A humpback fluke lifting out of the water, a few drops falling, MONTEREY BAY beneath. The bay is the first thing every guest looks at from the room, so it gets the plainest tag: pale gray-sand, no ornament, the whale doing all the work.
Spirit of play
We handed their words to one of their dolphins. It leaps, and on the tip of its nose it balances a small suitcase, tilted, as if just tossed up, over SPIRIT OF PLAY. Poppy red, because play wanted a loud tag.
Views of otters
The rooftop spa exactly as the site describes it: a whirlpool tub on the roof edge, steam rising, and out in the water below two otter heads looking back up, under VIEWS OF OTTERS. Dusty lilac, a spa leather.
Schooners
The restaurant name taken back out to sea. A two-masted schooner under full sail on three wave lines, SCHOONERS beneath. Black carries this one in gold; a ship wants a paneled cabin.
We made this out of love. Leatherius Woodman is on a mission to create and share artifacts of beauty, craft and love – this study is one of them, and we hope the feeling is mutual. Every image is a render – how we prototype before cutting a die.
If you're Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa and you'd like these made real, or anything here changed – say hello through our contact page.