Ostra Studio
Saltmarsh Inns
Brand direction, round 2
Two ways to carry one name across three inns. We'll show each on the homepage and in booking, then ask you to choose one to develop.
- Meeting
- Thursday 8 October 2026, 10:00, at Eelbrook House
- For
- Mara Ellison and the three inn managers
- From
- Tomás Reyes and Ines Park, Ostra Studio
Today, in 45 minutes
Click a row to jump to it. Press O at any time to see every slide.
What we heard in round 1
From the September workshop at The Quay and our calls with twelve recent guests.
“Guests think we're three different businesses. Half of them book one inn without knowing the other two exist.”
So both routes put one name above every door, with the inn's own name beneath it.
“Most of our guests come off the last train, in the dark. The lamp over the door is the first thing they see of us.”
So Lantern starts from that lamp, and from arriving late.
“People ask about the tide before they ask about the room. Can they walk the causeway to breakfast?”
So Tideline treats the tide as information, not decoration.
Two directions
Direction A
Tideline
The estuary by day. Calm and useful: tide times, walking routes and plain signs, in a sharp serif with a quiet sans.
Direction B
Lantern
Arriving after dark. Warm light, late check-in and harbour stories, in a sturdy grotesque with a bookish serif.
Direction A
Tideline
Three tide lines in a circle, one for each inn. The wordmark is set in Gloock with the “lt” pulled tight, so the name reads as one shape on a sign.
Background
Lockup
Holds up at 18 px
Direction B
Lantern
An S drawn inside a harbour lamp: the light Dan's guests look for. The wordmark is Bricolage Grotesque, narrowed so it fits a hanging sign.
Background
Lockup
Holds up at 19 px
The homepage, two voices
Same content and layout. Only the identity changes.
- Tide times under the menuIt's the question Saltcote Mill gets most on the phone.
- One yellow buttonBook a room is the only thing in Buoy yellow, on every page.
- One card for every innThe price shown is the cheapest room, so it never goes up at checkout.
- Dark by defaultLike arriving at 10pm. Prices and rooms sit on Linen cards.
- Late check-in, said up frontThe worry guests mention most after the last train.
- Rooms left tonightLive from the booking system, so last-minute guests book online instead of ringing.
Where colour goes
Click a colour to see where it's used.
Tideline
Share of a typical page
Lantern
Share of a typical page
Buoy yellow
Type, in your words
Click either line and type. Both directions follow.
Tideline: Gloock with Hanken Grotesk
Check-in from 3pm. The causeway to Saltcote floods twice a day, so we print the tide times on your key card.
High water 07:42, rooms from £125
Lantern: Bricolage Grotesque with Newsreader
Arriving after ten? Your key waits in the lamp box by the door, and there's soup on the stove until midnight.
Last train 23:18, rooms from £125
Before and after
Today's site against the Tideline homepage.
- Three booking routes become oneToday each inn books differently, and Saltcote only by phone.
- Tide times move to the topToday they're a 2019 PDF under Links.
- One name above the doorThree old logos become one mark and the inn's name.
Drag the handle, or focus it and use the arrow keys.
Booking on a phone
Three steps, the same in both directions. Try it on the phone.
- 1Inn, then dates
Most guests already know which inn they want. The rest compare all three on one screen.
- 2Room, priced for the whole stay
The total for every night shows up front, so nothing changes at the last step.
- 3Check and pay a deposit
20% now and the rest at the inn, as today, so managers keep the welcome.
Show it in
Which direction should we develop in round 3?
Choose one. You can change it until we leave the room.
Our view: the third. It keeps the name calm by day and answers Dan's point about arriving in the dark.