Luxury dog daycare and hotel unveils Equinox-inspired brand

Barkhouse, a new luxury dog hotel and daycare based in Manhattan, New York, aims to offer peace of mind to busy, dog-owning professionals in the city. It called on global design agency Crown Creative to craft an identity that pushes back against dog daycare cliches, instead leaning into lifestyle branding.

Founded by entrepreneurs and self-confessed dog enthusiasts Jeffrey Carlson and Gabriella Desposito, Barkhouse is described as a space where “Your dog won’t just be cared for – they’ll be known.”

Ryan Crown, founder of Crown Creative, says, “When we looked at the pet care market, a clear pattern emerged. We saw existing brands tended to fall into one of two camps: overtly cutesy or coldly clinical. Neither felt right for what Jeffrey and Gabriella had in mind. From the outset, they were clear that they wanted to offer something more elevated, more premium, but still authentic.”

The membership-based club’s identity was therefore designed around the guiding philosophy of ‘Dog Obsessed, Just Like You.’ The brand needed to simultaneously capture the warmth and care at the heart of Barkhouse while also reflecting the company as a design-led destination for modern pet parents.

To balance these aims, the logomark deploys Conforto, a bold sans serif, and Coconot, a refined contemporary serif, to respectively represent a dog’s bark and the company’s elevated service offering.

This duality was also incorporated into the tone of voice, which offers playful puns (“No Ruff Days,” “Bone Appétit,” “Welcome to the Pack”) alongside long-form copy that leans into the company’s credentials, emphasising trust and experience.

Meanwhile, illustrations feature heavily throughout the new brand. Crown Creative crafted over ten custom designs that feature dogs owned by both the founders and the creative agency’s team members. Reminiscent of New Yorker cartoons, the illustrations ground the brand in its neighbourhood on West 25th Street, with local and wider New York landmarks referenced.

The colour palette is aptly inspired by dog breeds. Muted tones including Onyx browns, Weimaraner greys and Husky creams are cleverly interwoven with punchy, energetic Goldie accents.

Crown adds, “Jeffrey and Gabriella were aligned on differentiation from day one. As dog owners themselves, they knew exactly what was missing in the market and wanted to fill that gap.

“They came to us with a clear ambition: they wanted Barkhouse to be 'the Equinox of dog care.' That kind of clarity of vision from a client is rare, and it gave us the confidence to push the creative work somewhere genuinely different.”