Non-Objective rolls Mill’s identity from dough, charcoal and phone scans

Mill Italian Bistro opened in the shadow of a reputation. The team behind it had already built Meal, a project that earned recognition for its disciplined approach to cooking. One of the co-founders trained at Noma in Copenhagen, and that influence carried forward. Mill operates at a deliberately modest scale, focused on fermentation, reinterpretation of traditional dishes and close relationships with local suppliers. The identity design needed to reflect this reality rather than impose upon it. Non-Objective, the international studio founded by Artem Matyushkin, approached the brief by looking at how Mill actually works. The kitchen changes menus frequently. The team prefers familiar tools over specialised software. Attention gets directed toward ingredients, suppliers and the daily rhythm of service rather than maintaining elaborate brand systems. These weren’t obstacles to work around – they became the foundation of the visual language itself. The logotype emerged through hand sketching before being refined digitally. It appears as if formed from dough and rolled out with a pin, its letterforms carrying the slight awkwardness of handwork rather than typographic perfection. “The rolled dough effect was recreated digitally – mostly because we’re better with design tools than with dough itself,” admits Liza Tyutyaeva, Lead Designer at Non-Objective. Matyushkin adds a qualification: “I have to admit that after all the pizzas we’ve eaten at Mill over this time, I’d say we’ve since become fairly confident dough experts.”