La Dolce Vita
Orient Express Custom Serif font
for Luxury Train Branding
The Vision Capturing the Golden Age of Italy
When Arsenale Group set out to launch the La Dolce Vita Orient Express—a first-of-its-kind luxury rail experience traversing Italy's most iconic landscapes—they needed a visual identity as evocative as the journey itself.
Reflecting the ultimate Italian aesthetic, the La Dolce Vita Orient Express showcases rich, meticulously crafted interiors rooted in the 1960s and 70s. The design language nods directly to mid-century visionaries such as Carlo Scarpa, Gio Ponti, and Ignazio Gardella, alongside the time-and-space theories of Spatialist artists like Lucio Fontana, Agostino Bonalumi, and Enrico Castellani.
The goal was to translate the raw energy of 1960s Italian design into contemporary typography. We delivered a custom type design that captures the bold character of the decade, without compromising the strict precision required by modern premium brands. The resulting luxury serif typeface combines classic proportions with sharp details—referencing both the industrial design of the era and the opulent interiors of the La Dolce Vita train carriages.
The Design Classical Proportions, Modern Asymmetry
To achieve this delicate balance of historical homage and modern sophistication, we designed a contemporary serif that bridges two distinct worlds. We merged the timeless, elegant proportions of 15th and 16th-century Italian masters with daring, mid-century modern design cues.
Sharp cuts, asymmetrical serifs, and high contrast—from these elements, we crafted a typeface that forms an integral part of the La Dolce Vita Orient Express logotype. While its primary purpose was to build the mark itself, the design works in headlines and digital communication with equal force. It delivers the elegance expected of luxury editorial fonts for magazines.
The Detail
The typeface thrives on strong, ownable details. Its defining feature is a bold clash of classic proportions, asymmetric serifs, and soft, rounded letterforms. This fusion directly channels the Italian modernist style, which served as the foundation for the entire project.
The Destination
Delivered in a Regular weight encompassing uppercase, lowercase, numerals, and essential symbols, the typeface was designed to live seamlessly alongside the legendary Orient Express mark. Today, it serves as the typographic anchor for the La Dolce Vita Orient Express brand, unifying everything from high-end collateral and digital campaigns to exclusive onboard accessories.
“Collaborating with Roch to create a custom typeface for our luxury travel & hospitality company was truly a pleasure. The communication was precise and straightforward, and Roch perfectly captured everything we needed, completing the job in a short time, meeting all deadlines, and creating a very elegant custom typeface, perfect for the message we wanted to convey.”
Crafting for the Landmarks
Beyond the train, our collaboration with Arsenale expanded to include bespoke lettering for the names of two of their premier luxury destinations: the Orient Express La Minerva hotel in Rome, and the historic Palazzo Donà Giovannelli in Venice (home to the Orient Express Venezia hotel). The custom lettering for both names was designed to honor their unique architectural heritage while maintaining the uncompromising elegance expected of the Arsenale portfolio.
La Minerva
Design language:
Eclectic, retro, neo-deco
Palazzo Donà Giovannelli
Design language:
Classic, traditional, beauty & elegance
Hotel
Orient Express
La Minerva Roma
Rome, Italy
Hotel
Orient Express Venezia
at Palazzo Donà Giovannelli
Venezia, Italy
