OnePlus designs Milan’s Balay to feel like a Filipino household

The Brand Identity: The meaning behind Balay – ‘home’ in Ilocano – did more for OnePlus than any moodboard. Working alongside Emanuele Abbondanza of Ascend Beyond on creative direction, and with interiors by Studio Mille, the Milan-based studio built an identity for the evening tapas spot that holds a Filipino sense of conviviality at its centre and organises every other decision around it. The visual system, the uniforms and the music played on any given night all behave like elements of a household rather than a hospitality concept. Italo-Filipino chef Ray Ibarra first imagined Balay as a wine and tapas bar with a strong link to Milan’s listening bar scene.

But research quickly complicated that. “Leaning too heavily into that trend would make it extremely difficult to stand out. It would have been like opening a new pizzeria in Naples,” Aaron Capobianco, Co-founder of OnePlus, explains. The team moved away from the trend and toward what was already in Ibarra’s brief: his Filipino roots and a set of references that also reached into Japan and the United States. Listening bar elements stayed in the mix as recurring details, but they stopped carrying the concept. Holding three cultural registers together without producing a collage required a focused, single filter.

“At the core of Balay, and of everyone involved in the project, there was the sense of home: of being comfortable, of ‘home away from home,’ of that apparent domestic messiness that brings authenticity and life,” Matteo Bonato, Co-founder of OnePlus, shares. Every reference was passed through that lens, which is why the identity reads as one even when its sources are many. Bonato compares the result to a sourdough starter, something that needs fresh nourishment to keep growing. The strategy, branding, fashion and spatial thinking developed in parallel.

“Ideas kept bouncing back and forth between us, almost like a ping pong match, and each round added a new layer of energy to the project,” Giovanni de Felice, Co-founder of OnePlus, reveals. The most interesting moments emerged at the seams between disciplines: the labels stitched into the uniforms, the projections in the bathroom and the spatial installations that needed branding and interior to think together.

Strategy stayed the guiding light, and the ping-pong meant decisions in one area could reshape another mid-flight. Three typefaces are in regular use throughout the project – each chosen for the unique attributes it brings to the mix. Pitch by Klim Type Foundry handles the linear, readable work like menu items, opening hours and secondary information. Its typewriter quality gives even functional copy a tactile, human feel. Serial A by DUM DUM Studio runs through the menus and adds a sense of naturalness, with an underlying nod to the hand-painted vernacular signage of Filipino streets and storefronts.

Clarendon Graphic Stencil by Optimo is used in bolder ways, often layered over other text, its stencil construction carrying both the handmade quality and the street-signage register the studio wanted in the system. The contrast between the three is deliberate. “We really like to move across different fonts to reinforce that ongoing sense of messiness, like a home library that keeps evolving with new books and objects, while still remaining the same place,” Capobianco notes. The uniforms, also designed with Abbondanza of Ascend Beyond, are treated as working garments.

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The project showcases a unique cultural integration in branding, which is significant for design professionals, while also providing actionable insights into brand strategy.