Few places evoke sensory richness quite like the Mediterranean, from the sunlight and the sea to the slow lunches that turn into long evenings. Sometimes, though, it’s easy to fall into the same coastal clichés when interpreting the Med in hospitality settings.
That’s why London studio Run For The Hills has taken a more abstract route in crafting the identity for Olimera, a new restaurant that celebrates Mediterranean dining in its own unique and confident way.
Led by co-founder and creative director Chris Trotman, the studio wanted guests to feel the Mediterranean without being spoon-fed. The brand world, he explains, “grows from a library of abstract watercolour paintings, loose washes and layered marks that reference produce and place – think tomatoes, lemons, oysters, aubergines, olives, ferns and seaweed – but more suggestive and abstract rather than literal.”
The visual identity carries the warmth and freshness of the region while avoiding the predictable tropes of blue tiles and sun-bleached photography. Instead, the restaurant’s menus, murals and collateral are washed in gestural botanicals and organic brushstrokes that nod to coastlines and markets without ever directly depicting them.
This painterly approach was key to striking the right emotional tone. “It lets the work carry sun-warmed freshness, movement and salt-spray atmosphere, without tipping into postcard cliché,” says Chris. “Gestural botanicals and strokes that read like shoreline fronds and ripples.”
Colour plays an equally crucial role, with a nature-inspired palette of pale melon, burnt orange, ivory, espresso black, and forest green. Elegant typography also adds another layer of polish to the restaurant.
“We paired an elegant wordmark and refined typographic system with a palette rooted in nature,” Chris explains. “Then we warmed it all up with the brand voice – ‘From the Mediterranean With Love’. The typography and colour provide restaurant-grade polish; the strapline and painterly illustrations add generosity and welcome.”
That tagline captures the heart of the project and the studio’s goal to create a sense of hospitality that feels effortless rather than staged. As a studio that blends branding and interior design, their team is used to designing identities that behave like spaces in a way that’s sensory, layered and human.
Even though the team wasn’t behind Olimera’s interiors, their brand direction was developed with spatial experience in mind. Chris says: “Our studio blends strategy, storytelling and craft across branding and interiors.
“Even when we’re not leading the interiors, we design brands that live spatially. For Olimera, that meant art direction that feels atmospheric in-hand, on menus, and wallpaper murals and framed art that subtly continue the brand in the restaurant. The result is an identity that behaves like a place you can step into, which is very much our house approach.”
From signage to social media, Olimera’s visual language is designed to stay cohesive without feeling overly rigid. The team developed a comprehensive asset system – from the core wordmark and olive logomark to illustration libraries and tone-of-voice guidelines – ensuring the brand feels consistent across print, digital, and physical touchpoints.
“We built a system, not a set of one-offs,” says Chris. “It means the identity can flex and grow, while always remaining unmistakably Olimera.”
This approach allows for longevity, because the abstract watercolours aren’t just beautiful; they’re practical. By staying suggestive of food, nature and the sea, the brand avoids becoming tied to specific ingredients or seasons.
“The last thing we ever want to produce is something that looks ‘twee’,” says Chris. “Going more abstract gives it a bit of edge. It also gives us breadth and longevity. The artwork can flex with seasons and menu shifts (morning pastry through to late-night plates) while remaining unmistakably Olimera.”
Flexibility is crucial to the restaurant’s ethos, rooted in craft and culture yet open to evolution. Olimera feels like the kind of place where the brand subtly enhances the experience rather than shouting for attention. You might not consciously notice the brushstrokes or the lettering, but you feel both sophistication and warmth in the atmosphere.
Run For The Hills sees it as another great example of how hospitality branding doesn’t just decorate a restaurant, but helps define its soul. “That’s the sweet spot: considered but never cold; stylish but easy to love,” says Chris.
And Olimera seems to have found it.
