Portfolio

Pamplemousse

Pamplemousse Collective stationery, business cards and phone on yellow
Client
Pamplemousse Collective
Year
2025
Project
Brand Design
What’s included
Logo, Color palette, Typography, Patterns, Icons, Brand guidelines, Business cards, Templates, Social media

Pamplemousse Collective

Pamplemousse Collective is a boutique digital marketing agency specializing in working with expat service providers in Western Europe. Founded by a US expat living in France, the agency evolved from Naughton Writing and Consulting (est. 2021) into a purposeful marketing partner that understands both the American expat experience and the unique challenges of marketing professional services across cultures.

The name "Pamplemousse" (French for grapefruit) represents the founder's personal journey, it was the first French word she learned before moving to France, symbolizing how life can surprise you with its sweet and sour moments, much like the complex flavors of a grapefruit.

For the client, Pamplemousse isn’t random. It carries layers: personal, cultural, and symbolic, just like the way you approach marketing.

Our goal was to build an identity that reflects that origin while giving you the presence of a boutique agency ready for its next chapter.

Pamplemousse symbol animation on burgundy
Pamplemousse Collective logo on red

The design challenges:
How do we reference the grapefruit without looking like a juice brand?
How do we bring in color without drifting into something too vibrant or “girly”?
How do we keep it human and personal, but still professional and confident?
How do we design visuals that feel as thoughtful and layered as the way the founder writes?

Looking like a grapefruit, but not so obvious it feels cliché, and not too abstract you can’t recognize the reference.
Being feminine and approachable, but not overly feminine, since the male audience is equally important.
Avoiding a vintage aesthetic, while also steering clear of the tech-bro vibe of neon or corporate minimalism.

More than 70 logo ideas explored for Pamplemousse
Pamplemousse logo sketches, color tests and symbol studies

Pamplemousse Collective is a boutique agency that bridges cultures and voices. Its identity reflects layered storytelling, refined confidence, and a touch of bold creativity: a brand that feels human, approachable, and specialized.

Pamplemousse logo with the ideas behind it: layered storytelling, refined, boutique, confident

Instead of showing the fruit literally, we worked with abstract forms, segments that can read as petals, rays of light, or parts of a cycle. It’s a nod to the grapefruit, but it also suggests energy, movement, and strategy.

Pamplemousse logo in each color of the palette
Pamplemousse color palette in burgundy, red, orange, yellow and cream
Poster: a boutique agency built on a writer’s instinct
Pamplemousse social media posts
Grapefruit search icon animation

The graphic elements are a direct extension of the logo, by zooming in and breaking apart the grapefruit form, we created “petals” and “layers” that reflect the brand’s essence of nuance and depth.

Each fragment acts as a metaphor for layered storytelling, showing how individual pieces come together to build something cohesive and intentional. The challenge was balancing creativity without tipping into overly feminine or playful territory, and the solution was bold, geometric forms arranged with control and refinement.

Combined with a grapefruit-inspired palette, these elements bring warmth and vibrancy in a way that feels professional, boutique, and sophisticated.

They serve as a flexible visual system that reinforces the identity across applications, dynamic over photography, textured in backgrounds, and unique as standalone graphics, giving Pamplemousse a ownable language that elevates it beyond the literal logo.

Woman in a red blazer on her phone, with the round Pamplemousse seal
Pamplemousse project proposal pages
Pamplemousse tote bag on a burgundy velvet armchair
Pamplemousse cap in an orange bowl with yellow fruit
Pamplemousse layouts on a tablet
Three Pamplemousse cards with brand phrases
Pamplemousse tote bag hanging on an orange wall
Pamplemousse patterns next to photos of people working
Pamplemousse business cards on peach
Pamplemousse blog and social media layouts
Pamplemousse card with the grapefruit pattern on burgundy
Grapefruit slices and the Pamplemousse symbol on burgundy
Your marketing should feel like you: clear, confident, and a little unexpected
Marketing with intention, storytelling with substance, with grapefruit halves on yellow
Marketing with intention, storytelling with substance, with grapefruit halves on burgundy
Two women talking at a table in front of a Pamplemousse poster
Three Pamplemousse square posts on burgundy
Grapefruit pattern in yellow and red
Grapefruit pattern in burgundy and red
Grapefruit pattern in red and cream
Grapefruit pattern in yellow and cream
Pamplemousse logo over a hand holding half a grapefruit

Client Love

"I first worked with Buenas while I was supporting a client -- that client needed a brand identity package and supporting assets, and we connected with Julia and her team to support. After seeing her work for my client and how organized, creative, and thoughtful the process was -- not to mention how happy the client was with the final work -- I knew I would return to work with her to create a brand identity for my company in the future. So I did, and I couldn't be happier with the result. Julia really takes the time to understand you, as the person behind your brand, and pushes you to understand your mission more deeply as a business owner. I've learned so much from Julia as it relates to thinking and working with brands. Just one key takeaway: It's not just about being happy with the colors or having a logo to put on a presentation; it's about being able to see yourself and your goals reflected in the final brand, and that is such a special feeling! Thank you so much to Julia and the Buenas Team!"

- Claire N.

Pamplemousse poster at a bus stop
Pamplemousse logo with grapefruit slices on red

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