One&Only Resorts
The Link
Crafting the future icon of a signature skyline
Insight: Dubai’s newest architectural landmark and lifestyle destination required an elevated story to match.
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Within the world’s longest cantilevered building lies The Link, the rarefied experiential and culinary offering of One&Only One Za’aabel, the first urban resort by One&Only Resorts.
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Suspended between two dual towers and billed as the world’s only horizontal skyscraper, The Link is the latest addition to Dubai’s capricious skyline. Bringing together a portfolio of eight signature fine dining concepts from Michelin-lauded chefs, the world’s longest infinity pool club and captivating entertainment spaces in a single futuristic destination, The Link is set to lead the culinary and mixology worlds.
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A landmark lifestyle destination, One&Only Resorts sought to establish The Link as the unrivalled, future-perfect place to be.
Idea: A Bridge to the Future.
AKQA transformed The Link into a daring world of futuristic savoir-faire, where ephemeral experiences seamlessly flow from day to night. The Link becomes a symbolic bridge, connecting a new generation of global tastemakers to the world’s most celebrated culinary stars.
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From a perspective-shifting film, fashion-forward editorial photo shoots and a meticulously crafted brand identity, AKQA established The Link’s values of urban futurism, sophistication and intrepid culinary exploration, crafting an identity and platform where audiences can rise to a destination of indulgence.
The best place on earth is above it.
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To bring the world of The Link to life, a cinematic film invites visitors upwards, where they can taste the future of fine dining. Each frame is a moving portrait, starring a cast of otherworldly faces against a backdrop drenched in rich, prismatic colours. The camera gracefully glides from one vignette to the next, blurring the lines between fashion, art, cuisine and emotion.
The accompanying still campaign is a sophisticated fashion editorial that sets a bold vision for gourmet experiences. Contemporary visuals and avant-garde poeticisms converge to create artful, thought-provoking advertising. This synergy was showcased on DOOH, social media, display, and print.
A symbol of cosmopolitan art de vivre.
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The antecedent marque for The Link is an abstraction of its iconic form as a tessellating cantilever. AKQA elevated the marque with refined typography that mirrored the exact dimensions. A storyline crafted for the new lockup, reimagining it as the proverbial link to a future-perfect world and an invitation to soar above Dubai’s city centre.
Elegantly defying gravity.
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Embodying an adroit weightlessness, every aspect of the branding was carefully crafted to evoke a sense of effortless levitation. From tessellating patterns to shimmering colourways drawn from an orbit’s edge and language that invoked visions of futuristic glamour, the result is a refined urban universe.
For the digital experience, AKQA imagined innovative, future details to deliver on the promise of day-to-night delectation. These included animations for a sense of lightness, inspiring itineraries to delight and a digital reservation concierge, allowing users to seamlessly discover, book and indulge.
It is also a portal, digitally beaming users up to The Link’s urban universe, offering thrilling glimpses and enhancing desirability of its collection of signature dining concepts.
Credits
Agency
AKQA
Location
Dubai
Creative Direction
Taraka 'TK' Tennakoon
Collaborators
AKQA: Simon Reid - Executive Creative Director, Diego Santamaria - Art Director, Leo Tapang - 3D & Motion Designer, Cynthia Chabu, Johnwalf Brigoli, Amit Hasija - Production: Klaudia Adamski- Director
Results & Impact
Emotion and craft elevate an architectural marvel to a rising sensation.
Where the city looks up in awe, The Link now rises above Dubai, not just as a record-setter but as its most captivating restaurant and bar destination.
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With AKQA establishing the creative vision, designing the new brand and visual language and producing a fully integrated 360-degree campaign, the stage has been set for The Link and One&Only Resorts to revolutionise urban luxury hospitality with cutting-edge culinary and entertainment experiences.
AKQA
The full project is featured on AKQA.com.