- Maker: Merly Mesa
- Project: Design a Text
- Level: Graduate
- Program: Composition, Rhetoric, and Digital Media
- Course: WRIT 5800: Editing, Layout, and Design
- Instructor: Dr. Eric Mason
- Semester Created: Winter 2020
Description:
Villa Amelia is an Airbnb in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, owned and operated by two sisters. Many Airbnb’s, like hotels, have “Welcome” books or one-pagers that provide the guest with information they might need during their stay. The purpose of this welcome sheet is to provide guests with information such as maintenance contact info, Wi-Fi password, check out instructions, etc.
NOTE: The design for this welcome letter was heavily inspired by existing designs found through a Google search of “Airbnb Welcome Letter.” The icons were obtained via various searches for each “category.”
Reflection:
This was a fun project from start to finish. After creating the logo for this Airbnb business, I began to think about places where it could logically live (other than a beach bag). The clients had never considered a welcome sheet before, because Airbnb typically has all this type of information on their pages; however, the client agreed that it would be nice to have a physical copy in the villa too.
This document inspired a new set of questions about the clients’ space. What do guests do when they visit? What happens when something breaks? Is there a place to park your car? Who cleans up after the guests leave? Once I had those answers, I had to consider what kind of iconography could represent each “category.” Some of the guests who stay at this villa may not speak English, so it was important to use really obvious icons (which is why I looked at so many examples).
Unlike typical writing assignments, I also had to consider elements like color and space to design this text. The colors had to complement the logo and there needed to be white space, otherwise guests would find it too cluttered or too distracting to read. I also liked the idea of giving the client ample space in the “intro” portion of the letter, so that they could customize their message to each guest or for a particular season/event. This document can be easily printed and replaced at any time.
There was very little back-and-forth with the client on this piece. They loved it!
