When I approached the Pelagos project, the brief was ambitious and unique: design a full brand identity for a luxury underwater restaurant that stands apart from every other hospitality brand out there.

The concept of Pelagos isn’t just about dining. It’s about immersion — literally under the sea — and the identity needed to communicate that experience before anyone ever walks through the door.

Pelagos is envisioned as a premium, high-end restaurant located beneath the waterline, where guests are surrounded by the calm, expansive world of the sea while enjoying world-class cuisine and service. This creates an emotional opportunity that most restaurant brands don’t have:

That emotional positioning became my starting point.

The challenge wasn’t simply to design a logo or a menu. It was to build a holistic identity structure that supports:

✔ brand storytelling ✔ guest expectation before arrival ✔ visual cohesion across physical and digital environments ✔ marketing and wayfinding ✔ luxury sensibility appropriate for fine dining

This identity system needed to work everywhere: signage, digital communica­tion, menus, uniforms, environmental graphics, printed materials and more.

Pelagos’ audience consists of:

Fine-dining patrons

Luxury experience seekers

Travelers and explorers

People who value exclusivity and sensory experience

Emotionally, the brand needed to make them feel:

✨ anticipation 🌊 serenity + exclusivity 🍷 elevated taste 🧭 adventure with refinement

In other words, the design needed to promise an unforgettable experience, not just good food.

I built the identity around a few core strategic pillars:

The entire system draws inspiration from the underwater environment:

organic shapes and flows reminiscent of currents

refined color palette based on deep sea tones

delicate textures suggesting water ripples and marine life

These elements are not just decorative; they set emotional expectations before arrival.

Luxury branding thrives on restraint rather than complexity. The identity leans on:

minimal yet expressive lines

elegant typography with subtle details

a refined and consistent color hierarchy

This allows the design to feel luxurious and grounded.

The identity wasn’t limited to a logo. It became an experience:

door signage that feels like an invitation

menus that communicate both culinary and environmental storytelling

digital touchpoints that reinforce the underwater theme

Every element reinforces the feeling of immersion.

The palette evokes deep sea tones with luxury nuance:

deep azure and teal for environment

warm neutrals for cuisine and human touch

subtle highlights for premium accent

This balance ensures the restaurant feels exclusive but not cold.

Typography had to feel premium, legible, and consistent across applications:

a refined serif for titles and brand names

clean sans systems for navigation and menus

Hierarchy and spacing rules ensure cohesion across print and digital.

Through this work, Pelagos was positioned not just as a venue, but as a destination — emotionally resonant and visually distinctive.

The identity:

✔ communicates exclusivity ✔ visually connects to the underwater concept ✔ feels refined without pretension ✔ supports sales, bookings, and brand storytelling

This project reaffirmed a core principle of my work: a brand identity must feel like the experience before the experience happens.

With Pelagos, I wasn’t designing a logo. I was designing a feeling — from first impression to lasting memory.