Reframing Music Branding for Emerging Artists
Creating a softer and more distinctive visual identity for a modern artist development and publishing platform.
Overview
ONATURA is the commercial artist development and publishing arm of The Music Works, created to support selected emerging artists through management, publishing and wider commercial opportunities.
I developed the brand identity and digital direction for the platform, creating a visual system designed to feel more contemporary, approachable and culturally distinctive within the music industry space.
The Challenge
Many music management and label brands operate within a very established visual language, often relying on darker palettes, aggressive typography and heavily trend-driven aesthetics.
The challenge was to create something that still felt culturally relevant and creatively confident while intentionally moving away from some of the more expected visual tropes associated with music branding.
The identity needed to feel modern and commercially credible while also reflecting the more supportive and artist-focused ethos behind the platform.
My Role
- Creative Direction
- Brand Identity Design
- Visual Systems
- Digital Design
- Typography & Layout
- Brand Guidelines
- Website Design
- Stakeholder Collaboration
The Approach
The project focused on creating a softer and more refined visual identity that could stand apart from more conventional music industry branding while still maintaining a strong contemporary feel.
The visual system introduced:
- pastel-led colour palettes
- softer gradients
- rounded UI elements
- clean typography
- minimal but expressive layouts
Rather than leaning into darker and more aggressive visual styles commonly seen across music branding, the direction aimed to create something that felt calmer, more modern and more emotionally connected to the artists themselves.
Alongside the identity system, I also helped shape the wider digital presentation of the brand, ensuring the visual language remained flexible across web, social and future artist-facing content.
Outcome
The final identity established a distinctive and scalable visual foundation for ONATURA as it launched its commercial artist development platform.
The project helped position the brand as a more contemporary and culturally aware alternative within the music industry space while creating a flexible system that could continue evolving alongside future artists and releases.
