Hotel Orel, Maribor Room Key Cover

Paper room-key-cover from a hotel in Slovenia. Maybe 1960s-80s, during the communist era. Printed in 4 languages. Translates to ‘Hotel Eagle’.

This is similar to many other european tourist ephemera, but I think the use of the red typographic background is interesting.

The main type, map and imagery is printed in blue. To create a unique decorative trim, the name of the hotel has been printed in a continous block in red. Repeating the name seems obvious, but also draws you in, as you have to read what it says at first. If this red trim was printed on letterpress, it may also have been a cheap way to introduce a second colour layer.

The hotel still exists, and can be seen on Google maps (although the ground floor spaces have been rented out to shops).