The Story of Our Logo

Have you ever asked yourself what our logo means, why it looks like that and how it was created?

It all started with the logo of Albergo Etico, in Italy where the Etico model was first born.

You probably know that the very first trainee was Niccolo’.  A young man with Down Syndrome, who, after doing a course in hospitality, approached a chef in Asti, a town in northern Italy, asking for a job. Antonio gave Niccolo’ a chance and discovered a whole new world.  A world of incredible potential for people with disability. And that’s where the Etico story started (but that’s for another story…). And that is why our restaurant is called Niccolo’. It was dedicated to Niccolo, thanks to whom, the magical world of Etico was born.

But back to the logo…The Italian logo is a stylised persimmon tree.  Persimmons carry a rich cultural significance, often associated with luck and prosperity. In many cultures, the fruit is a symbol of perseverance, reflecting a deep understanding of inner strength patience and hard work. That is why it was chosen as a symbol of Etico.  And the tree, in the Italian logo, carries 21 persimmon fruits.  Because chromosome 21 is the chromosome responsible for Down Syndrome, Niccolo’s disability and the disability of many of the Etico trainees in Italy and now, also in Australia. Down syndrome in fact is also known as Trisomy 21, a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or a portion of a third chromosome 21.

The tree is also incorporated in a stylised brain with an arrow at its base, symbolising the “Download method” the training and learning methodology created by Chef Antonio, with a playing on words, referring to the “downloading” of information and skills from the trainers to the trainees.

Albergo Etico Logo

When we first established Hotel Etico Australia, we wanted to pay tribute to the Italian logo, while incorporating Australian and indigenous references to the logo. So we approached an indigenous artist, Elsie Randall, and commissioned her with creating an original representation of the logo. Elsie, incorporated lots of Australian animals and indigenous symbols in her artwork and created a fantastic rendition of the logo, called Spirit of the land.

Spirit of the Land

The beautiful piece of art was obviously too complex to be used as a logo, but provided the inspiration for Hotel Etico Australia to create its own unique logo. We “picked” one of the persimmons from the tree and incorporated the dot art yarning circle, which often appears in Elsie’s artwork and featured significantly in Spirit of the land. A yarning circle (or a dialogue) is an important process that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people use to learn from one another, build respect, and share knowledge. It is also a method that engenders the building of robust, trusting, and caring relationships between people.

And from these elements we created our own, unique, simple yet meaningful and beautiful logo.

Hotel Etico Blue Mountains Logo

When we created it, we intentionally created it with the possibility of changing the location line to different locations, as we open up new hotels around Australia. In fact, lately, we have chosen to use a variation of the logo with the word Australia underneath, instead of the words Blue Mountains. When a second and subsequent locations are secured in the near future, we will adapt he logo to the new location and replace, for that location the words Blue Mountains, with the name of the new location. The logo with the word Australia will continue to be used when referring to the “Group”.

Hotel Etico Australia Logo

Timber representations of the Italian logo and the symbol of the Hotel Etico logo are displayed in our Conservatory for all to see. Soon, we will also display a framed version of the artwork from Elsie Randall.