I’ve been following the saga of Cerro Gordo, California for a while now. Finding out that the historic American Hotel had burned down was heartbreaking, and I’ve been watching as Brent Underwood and the dedicated team up at Cerro Gordo rebuild the hotel from the ground up. I’ve always had a passion for history - especially the Old West - so it’s amazing to see people with the care and passion to preserve it and bring it back to life. So I made this design in honor of the late American Hotel, and the soon to be completed resurrection of it that’s now taking shape.

I made a custom new logo to match the original sign which hung outside the hotel. The ‘Visit’ text was hand lettered using a calligraphy pen on multimedia paper, then scanned digitally. I incorporated strong lineart, halftone shading, hand-drawn hatching, and digital watercolors to bring the rustic, western feel of the building and the town. I also added weathered, ragged paper scraps around the design, further cementing the rugged, patchwork spirit of the Old West and its mining towns.