Platolea ~ oil & herbs

The strongest source material was already there ~ in the land, the trees and the story behind them.

THE CHALLENGE

Platolea began with no existing brand to inherit. I was responsible for creating it from the ground up ~ from the name and visual identity to the packaging system and individual product labels.

The challenge was broader than designing an olive oil bottle. The identity needed to feel rooted in Greek agricultural tradition while working across a growing family of products including olive oil, olives and herbs. It had to communicate provenance without becoming nostalgic, and feel refined without losing the character of the land behind it.

Research combined first-hand observation with market and cultural references. I visited the area and olive groves, gathered context directly from Stathis Karakalpakis, and studied regional imagery, Greek visual references and the packaging language surrounding artisanal food products.

Early visual research ~ looking for a language that could feel rooted without becoming nostalgic.

BRAND DECISION 1/3 ~ Turn a story about the land into the identity

The name began with a story connected to Plato and the olive tree ~ a local narrative about the philosopher resting beneath the shade of an olive tree. Rather than treating that story as decoration, it became part of the conceptual foundation for Platolea: a name designed to connect place, olive culture and a longer Greek cultural memory.

The symbol came from something even more immediate. During my visit to the olive grove, one of the old trees stood out for its twisted trunk and irregular silhouette. Its form became the visual starting point for the logo. Instead of drawing an idealised olive tree, I developed the mark from a tree that actually belonged to the landscape behind the product.

The actual landscape behind the product became source material for the identity.

From observation and early sketches to a reproducible vector mark.

BRAND DECISION 2/3 ~ Build a language around the mark, not just a logo

The tree gave the brand a recognisable centre, but the identity needed enough range to work beyond the logo. I built the wider system around earthy colour, expressive typography and illustration that could carry the agricultural character of the brand without relying on photography at every touchpoint.

The combination of Calvino Grande, restrained supporting typography, natural colour and hand-drawn elements created a visual language that could move between premium and informal applications. The objective was consistency without making every product look identical.

BRAND DECISION 3/3 ~ Design a system that could stretch across the range

Platolea was never going to live on one bottle. The range expanded across olive oil, olives, herbs and different pack sizes, which meant the identity needed rules rather than a collection of isolated labels.

I designed the packaging and individual labels across the product family, keeping the core identity stable while allowing format, product information and category cues to change. The challenge was to make a small herb pouch and a bottle of olive oil unmistakably part of the same brand without forcing them into exactly the same composition.

One identity across different products, formats and information requirements.

OUTCOME & REFLECTION

Platolea moved from an empty brief to a complete brand and packaging system. The products entered production and were sold beyond Greece, reaching international markets including Norway and Canada. The identity was applied across the range through labels and packaging that I designed from the original system.

What made the project work was not inventing a story and then finding visuals to support it. The useful material already existed in the place itself ~ the olive grove, the old tree, the agricultural context and the stories surrounding the land. The design became stronger when I stopped treating those things as decoration and started treating them as source material.

What I learned

A brand system becomes useful when it can absorb change without losing its identity. Platolea began with one story and one mark, but it had to survive different products, packaging formats and markets. That shift ~ from designing a logo to designing a language ~ became the most valuable part of the project.

The land did not need a story invented for it. It needed a visual language that could carry the one it already had.