Lemon Tree
Brand Redesign, Hospitality
Ahmedabad, India
Duration:
3 Months
My Role:
For the Lemon Tree Hotels rebranding, I played a key role in developing a cohesive brand identity that blends modern aesthetics with cultural heritage. I conducted visual research, designed logo iterations, and created pattern systemsinspired by traditional Indian textiles to reinforce the brand’s warmth, sustainability, and distinctiveness. My focus was on ensuring a strong visual presence that resonates with modern travelers while maintaining consistency across digital and
physical touchpoints.
Overview
Fresh, spirited and youthful, Lemon Tree Hotels is India’s largest chain in the mid-priced hotels sector and third largest overall. The plush and spacious interiors at Lemon Tree Premier take the zing up a notch. This chain of upper midscale business and leisure hotels elevates the Lemon Tree experience while retaining the same freshness, quirkiness and energy that Lemon Tree is well known for.
Problem
Lemon Tree Hotels faced the challenge of staying relevant in a rapidly evolving hospitality industry where travelers now seek personalized experiences, strong brand values, and emotional connections beyond just price and location. With increased competition and the rise of niche hotel brands, Lemon Tree needed to differentiate itself by modernizing its identity while staying true to its core values of comfort, accessibility, and sustainability. The rebrand aimed to enhance its market positioning, strengthen digital engagement, and create a distinct, memorable brand experience that resonates with today’s discerning travelers.
What will change?
Differentiation
Defination
Communication
Challenges
Rebranding Lemon Tree Hotels came with key challenges, including modernizing the brand while retaining its trusted identity, ensuring differentiation in a crowded mid-scale market, and aligning branding and service consistency across all locations. Additionally, with travelers relying heavily on digital platforms and social media, integrating the new identity effectively online was crucial for engaging both new and existing audiences.
Maintaining Brand Equity
Balancing modernization while preserving Lemon Tree Hotels' trusted reputation to avoid alienating loyal customers.
Standing Out in a Crowded Market
Differentiating from competitors in the mid-scale hotel segment while retaining broad appeal.
Internal Alignment
Ensuring consistency in branding, messaging, and service experience across all hotel locations.
Digital Transformation
Adapting to evolving consumer behaviors and integrating the new identity effectively across digital platforms.
Design Iterations
The concept behind these
These logo iterations for the new identity of Lemon Tree Hotels explore a fresh, nature-inspired visual language. The designs incorporate organic elements such as leaves, sun, waves, and trees, symbolizing growth, sustainability, and hospitality in harmony with nature. The circular motifs evoke a sense of wholeness and inclusivity, while the use of minimal line work and geometric forms maintains a modern, clean aesthetic. The color palette of deep greens and soft yellows reinforces the brand’s eco-conscious values and welcoming warmth. These iterations experiment with different compositions and levels of abstraction, balancing recognizability and sophistication to create a timeless yet contemporary brand identity.
The Final Logo
The identity best describes the brand values of being fresh, fun and free spirited. It has an overall spin on the concept of India modern concept. A hotel so contemporary also has to have an identity which is modern but still has its roots imbibed to the brand.
The identity consists of a graphical representation of a lemon connecting to it a tree as well as a hand gesture depicting the fact that guests are treated with utmost care here at lemon tree.
New Identity
The Branding
This branding inspiration draws from the rich textile heritage of India, incorporating traditional woven patterns and geometric motifs into a contemporary visual language. The intricate structures and rhythmic patterns found in Indian textiles serve as a foundation for creating a distinctive brand identity that is both rooted in cultural authenticity and modern aesthetics. The transition from traditional textile designs to a bold, structured, and minimalist pattern systemreflects a seamless blend of heritage and innovation, reinforcing the brand’s connection to craftsmanship, hospitality, and timeless design sensibilities.
Learnings
This rebranding project taught me the importance of balancing heritage with modern aesthetics to create a brand identity that feels both authentic and contemporary. I gained insights into translating cultural inspiration into a cohesive visual system, ensuring consistency across digital and physical touchpoints. Additionally, I learned how branding shapes consumer perception and how design decisions influence emotional connections with a brand.
How it looked before
