"There were tears of happiness": How a fan-made Coldplay logo caught the band's eye – and ended up on the Barcelona FC shirt

Music fans have been designing their own posters and logos for years, but it isn't often that a fan-made design catches the eye of the band itself. It's even less often that said logo forms the basis of the band's next album. And it's even less often that said logo then ends up on the kit of one of the world's biggest football teams.

Mexican fan David Saldaña Palomares created a Coldplay wordmark made from moon symbols in 2021. Up there with some of the best band logos, this clever design was shared by a fan page (below), leading to Coldplay adopting it for Moon Music, released this month. And as part of a collaboration with Spotify, it's now on the Barcelona FC shirt too.

As part of a "first-of-its-kind" partnership between Barcelona FC and Spotify, we've seen shirt takeovers featuring the logos of artists such as The Rolling Stones, ROSALÍA, and Drake. The latest is Coldplay, whose Number 1 album Moon Music was just released.

David told Creative Bloq he was inspired by the band's "lyrics, rhythms, melodies, and messages," and the way that the band's music "supports you during hard times and makes good moments memorable."

And the artist couldn't believe it when the band itself spotted his design. "There are no words to describe what I felt and continue to feel throughout this adventure. I only know that they were tears of happiness because I felt like I had never felt before. It’s something out of this world. I still don’t believe Coldplay saw something that came from my soul and my mind, and that it has evolved to this point."

Indeed, the collaboration with Spotify and Barcelona FC has taken things to new heights for David. "It is a great joy that one of the biggest clubs on the planet, FC Barcelona, ​​has chosen something that was born from my greatest passion—Coldplay—and everything it implies (love, respect, principles, empathy, etc.)," he adds.

With brat summer taking over the world in 2024, it's certainly been a big (and very neon green) year for pop music design. No wonder even the US presidential race has found itself influenced.