Silver Nova Brochure

The Silver Nova brochure project emerged as Silversea introduced a revolutionary class of vessels with the flagship Silver Nova, the newest addition to its ultra-luxury fleet. Silver Nova is the most environmentally friendly ship in the fleet, and thanks to her groundbreaking technological solutions, she propels Silversea into a new era of sustainable cruising. This shift demanded a completely reimagined approach to how the brand communicated its ships.

Designing for a New Ship Category

With the aim of highlighting her innovative features setting the brand on a more sustainable path, we created a completely new ship brochure format that could better showcase her distinctive design. The ship features a unique asymmetrical design and is the first hybrid luxury cruise ship, powered by a combination of liquefied natural gas (LNG), fuel cell system, and batteries, enabling it to be emissions free when in port.

The challenge was clear: how do you communicate revolutionary sustainable luxury cruise ship in a format traditionally known for excess? The answer came through materials and execution. We chose recycled algae paper to embrace the concept of sustainability central to the new Nova class, creating a tactile connection between the brochure’s physical properties and the ship’s environmental mission.

Special Applications and Finishes

The cover features special applications with mate gloss lacquer, creating subtle contrasts that draw the eye without overwhelming the clean, sophisticated aesthetic. This finishing technique allowed us to highlight key design elements and the Silver Nova name whilst maintaining the refined elegance expected from a luxury cruise brand.

The combination of sustainable materials with premium finishes proved that environmental responsibility and luxury are not mutually exclusive. Silver Nova reduces carbon emissions by 40 per cent compared to Silversea’s newest, most advanced ships currently sailing, and our brochure design mirrored this achievement by reducing environmental impact without compromising quality.

Collaboration with Milan Studios

This project was developed in collaboration with Milan based design studios A+C and Rio, specialised in branding, luxury and editorial design. Their expertise in high-end editorial work helped us establish a new visual language for Silversea’s ship brochures. The 3D renderings were curated by Elephant Skin, Brazil, bringing technical precision and photorealistic quality to the interior and exterior ship visualisations.

Working across three studios and two continents, we maintained tight creative coordination to ensure every spread, every detail, and every finish reflected both the ship’s innovation and Silversea’s heritage of excellence. This collaborative design approach mirrors the integrated thinking behind Silver Nova itself.

Print and Digital Optimisation

We created both a premium printed version and an optimised PDF version for digital reading. The digital format maintained the visual impact of the print piece whilst ensuring fast loading times and excellent screen readability across devices. This dual-format approach recognised that luxury travellers engage with content across multiple touchpoints.

Testing Ground for New Brand Direction

This new approach worked as a test for the new editorial direction we started to apply to all communication assets for a renewed, luxurious but cooler style guide. Silver Nova offers a space-to-guest ratio of 75 GRT-per-passenger, becoming one of the most spacious cruise ships ever built, and the brochure’s generous use of white space and breathing room reflected this physical spaciousness.

The success of this format influenced subsequent Silversea collateral, proving that a more contemporary, less ornate approach could still communicate luxury whilst appealing to younger, environmentally conscious ultra-high-net-worth travellers. The brochure became not just a marketing piece, but a statement of brand evolution.

Project Vitals

Client: Silversea Cruises
Project: Silver Nova Ship Brochure (Editorial Design)
Services: Editorial Design, Art Direction, Print Production, Digital Optimisation
Collaborators: A+C (Milan), Rio (Milan), Elephant Skin (Brazil)
Special Materials: Recycled algae paper
Special Finishes: Mate gloss lacquer on cover
Formats: Premium print brochure, optimised PDF
Innovation: First sustainable ship brochure format for Silversea
Impact: Established new editorial direction for brand communications