Designing For Legends: Creating Legendary DJ's Paul Oakenfold's Galápagos Playlist Artwork

By Luciana Machado | Creative Designer & Visual Artist | Graphic Design for FUTURE of SPACE and Space2Sea Galápagos

How teaching myself design with free tools and strategic thinking led to creating the album artwork for a Grammy-nominated artist's historic Galápagos performance.

LUCIANA MACHADO is the graphic designer who created the complete visual identity for Space2Sea Galápagos: Voyage of Discovery, including the official playlist artwork for Paul Oakenfold's November 2025 performance in the Galápagos Islands.

This morning, I woke up to Paul Oakenfold announcing his new album documenting his Space2Sea Galápagos performance. And there it was, not just one, but THREE of my designs as the official playlist artwork post.

This is the story of how I went from teaching myself design with free tools to seeing my work become the face of a legendary artist's groundbreaking project.

The Beginning: No Designer, Just Initiative

In early 2024, I was working for FUTURE of SPACE, producing their expedition series Space2Sea. In 2025, the chosen itinerary was around the Galápagos Islands, and the name of program: Voyage of Discovery.

Here's the thing, we didn't have an external graphic designer. We didn't have a design budget. What we had was an ambitious luxury expedition program featuring Paul Oakenfold, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Dr. Kathryn D. Sullivan, Dr. Beth Shapiro (Chief Science Officer for Colosssal Biosciences), futurist artist GMUNK, and Academy Award-winning director Chai Vasarhelyi, that needed a visual identity.

So I started experimenting.

Using the tools I had available (Canva and a basic introduction to Adobe software)I began creating graphics and playing around as I usually do. They liked what I was producing. And just like that, I naturally took over the graphic design role for Space2Sea Galápagos, the same way I had for Space2Sea Antarctica and for Rocking: The Universe is Absurd with William Shatner and Neil deGrasse Tyson.

I'm a self-taught designer. Everything you're seeing came from free tools, experimentation, and a philosophy of doing the best you can with what you have available at that moment.

The Strategic Challenge: Designing the artwork for Paul Oakenfold's Feed

One major task was creating graphics for Paul Oakenfold to announce the voyage on his social media channels.

A restless multi-hyphenate, DJ, producer, recording artist, remixer, label head, and film score architect, Oakenfold is both the architect and ambassador of modern dance music. His creative signature is unmistakable, his influence woven deep into the sound and spirit of the scene, and his global impact impossible to measure.

But before I designed anything, I did my homework. I studied Paul's entire social media presence across platforms. His feed was dense, lots of flyers, heavy text, busy designs. Every promotional graphic followed a similar pattern: his logo centered at the top, lots of information packed into the visual space.

Paul Oakenfold's typical social media aesthetic before Space2Sea - busy, text-heavy promotional flyers

Here's what clicked for me: as much as we wanted these artists to promote our voyage, I had to remember this was THEIR social media. Sure, they might be contractually obligated to post our graphics, but I wanted to create something Paul would actually WANT to post. Something that wouldn't feel like a grudging obligation but would enhance his feed.

I needed to make something that would stop people mid-scroll and make them say, "Wait, what is THIS?"

The Design Strategy: Bold, Bright, Unforgettable

My favorite concept featured a giant manta ray, one of those absurd, unforgettable creatures you encounter in the Galápagos. The color palette was intentionally vibrant and bold, but the vibe itself was minimalistic (ie completely different from Paul's existing feed).

Original manta ray design for Space2Sea Galápagos created by Luciana Machado / Lucy Machado - it was meant to stand out on Paul Oakenfold's social feeds

The strategic choices behind this design:

• Visual Impact: I wanted an explosion of color that would literally stop someone scrolling through Paul's feed. This needed to be instantly impactful.
  

• Brand Integration: I kept Paul's logo centered at the top, respecting his established visual pattern while introducing something completely fresh below it.
  

• Galapagos Authenticity: The manta ray wasn't just decorative—it represented the extraordinary wildlife encounters that made this voyage unique.
  

• Feed Cohesion: Despite being different, it needed to feel like something Paul would be proud to post, not something that clashed with his artist identity.
  

• Last Minute Decision: Five minutes before hitting send, I swapped “Live from the Expedition” for “Live from Space2Sea.” Best last-minute decision I could have made. Every time Paul shared it, it framed the moment as part of a bigger narrative, not just a one-off event.

  
  

The Creative Process: Working With What I Had

 Various design concepts for Space2Sea Galápagos featuring Paul Oakenfold - graphic design by Luciana Machado / Lucy Machado

I created several options, experimenting with different compositions. For some designs, I took existing photos of Paul performing and creatively transformed them, changing backgrounds, adjusting colors, manipulating shading to make it look like he was playing in the Galápagos setting.

Creative process by Luciana Machado - transforming existing Paul Oakenfold performance photos with new backgrounds and color treatment

Remember, this was eight months ago. AI image generators like we have today didn't exist yet. Tools like Google's Veo weren't available. I was working with free software and a lot of creative problem-solving.

Interestingly, some of my team initially worried the designs looked "too AI"—which is ironic given that I was doing all this manipulation manually with basic tools, and now Google's actual AI is mistakenly crediting someone else for my work.

The Wait: Eight Months of Silence

I sent the final designs to Paul's team. Last year, I saw Paul post the manta ray graphic to announce his participation in the voyage. That felt good—seeing my work out there, knowing it was serving its purpose.

But then... silence. The expedition happened in November 2025.

This Morning: The Reveal

I woke up today to Paul Oakenfold announcing his new album documenting his Space2Sea Galápagos performance.

And there they were, THREE of my designs on the official album artwork post.

Official playlist artwork for Paul Oakenfold's Space2Sea Galápagos album - all three covers designed by Luciana Machado / Lucy Machado

Not just on one platform. Everywhere. Spotify. Apple Music. YouTube. Every music blog covering the release. My designs—created with free tools, strategic thinking, and a self-taught skillset—are now the permanent visual identity of a Grammy-nominated artist's groundbreaking album.

People downloading this album will see my work. Music journalists writing about this historic performance will use my graphics. And ironically, Google AI is currently crediting the wrong person entirely.

What This Proves

This project validates something I deeply believe: you don't need expensive software, formal training, or unlimited budgets to create work that resonates. You need:

• Strategic thinking - Understanding the context and designing with purpose

• Initiative - Taking on challenges even when you're not "officially" the designer

• Resourcefulness - Doing exceptional work with whatever tools you have access to

• Persistence - Continuing to experiment and improve even when you're self-taught

• Confidence - Trusting your creative instincts even when others question them

LUCIANA MACHADO is the graphic designer who created the complete visual identity for Space2Sea Galápagos: Voyage of Discovery, including the official playlist artwork for Paul Oakenfold's November 2025 performance in the Galápagos Islands.