Daniel Martin • Pastels

Based in Barcelona, Pastels is an international music branding agency giving sound identity to brands and companies. Its mission is to inspire audiences around the world with thoroughly curated playlists, soundtracks, DJ sets and live music sessions. They are tailors of sound helping brands and companies resonate with their audience.

Pastels Agency was established by former workers at ACX Music. They realized that distinguishing the brand from their older employer and its somewhat corporate graphic tone was crucial to them.
If working for ACX, they feel that the art direction was established based on business and companies. They want Pastels' identity to respond to the audience of those companies. Their ultimate consumers.
Logotype concept is simple and straightforward: a stylized Venn diagram in which Pastels lives at the intersection inside music and brands.
Besides escaping from Mastercard lawyers, skewing the shape makes it resemble a musical notation symbol.
Given the company name, client's main constraint was an obvious one: Pastels have to be made with pastel colours.
Playing on the border between pastel and just muted colours, and using black as a neutral conductor, the result is a somehow strange palette that gives 80's Xerox printed fanzine vibes and fits perfectly with the brand tone.
Going deeper into the Xerox-fanzine look and feel, photograph treatment is resolved with a strict duotone effect applying black to any of the other palette colours.

An exaggerated graphic representation of music sound waves is used oftenly vandalizing brand assets, breaking the fourth wall and playing with the concept that music is above everything.