Populus
Brand Identity
Client: Populus
Services: Brand Identity, Messaging, Print & Web Design
Real Estate Developer: Urban Villages
Hotel Group: Aparium
Photography: Jason O’Rear, Studio Gang, Steve Hall, Yoshihiro Makino
Interior Design: Wildman Chalmers Design
Created as the Creative Director at 970 Design
Populus is the first carbon-positive hotel in the United States. Authentically rooted in nature, the hotel features 265 modern guest rooms, a ground floor restaurant, flexible event spaces, a coffee bar, and a signature rooftop bar and restaurant offering unobstructed views of the mountains, city skyline, and Civic Center Park. It showcases an iconic Aspen tree-inspired design by AD100 architecture firm, Studio Gang. As Studio Gang's first building in Colorado, the hotel incorporates distinctive window shapes informed by the characteristic patterns of Colorado’s native Aspen trees (Populus tremuloides).
With its carbon-positive mission, Populus offsets its embodied and operational carbon footprint through forest and agricultural collaborations that sequester more carbon than the building emits throughout its lifecycle, contributing positively to climate change and leaving the planet in a better state.
Visual Identity
Our approach with Populus was rooted in harmonizing luxury with environmental responsibility, partnering with Urban Villages and Aparium Hotel Group to bring nature into Denver’s urban core. Guided by a shared reverence for the natural world, we crafted a brand environment where the hotel’s identity could thrive, balancing input from art directors, interior designers, hotel operators, and urban developers.
We built a cohesive brand identity, including messaging, icons, fonts, colors, and a custom website that brings Populus’s ethos to life in both the digital and physical realms. Our work extended to meticulously designed collateral like custom tote bags, felted coasters, and many other eco-conscious amenities, creating a seamless, responsible guest experience across all touch points.
