In 2021, the self-taught electronic music producer Lukas Friberg began work on a new project that came to be known as Venus Has No Moons. The project is a way of returning back to some of the themes and sounds that originally inspired Friberg to create music, as well as represent the maturity of a decade-long career. The most prevalent theme for VHNM is space, representing the vast, humbling, and lonely wonder of what lay beyond Earth.
Aesthetically, the inventiveness, hopefulness, and curiosity of the post-war period is prevalent throughout the design. The logo uses a rational custom typeface with perfect circles for Os portraying planets and the very factual aspect of the name. A low-res gradient is utilised throughout the identity to capture the abstractness of space and the vintage technology of the 50s and 60s.
The monogram/album art was an important part of the commission as it had the purpose of being transferrable, used in physical products such as the vinyl and merchendising, as well as digital, such as social media. The design tries to mimic the nostalgic feeling of music listener obsession from the pre-internet era, whereby music which resonates with a person results in hours spent fixated by the album art while fully engrossed in the audio. To do this, Pantograf designed a cryptic visual riddle which walks the listener through the name as well as the symbolism that inspired VHNM such as the golden record. Most iconically the design includes the Sputnik satellite and the symbol for the god Venus.
Merchandising was produced in-house by Pantograf from salvaged high-quality vintage clothing and printed by hand in Stockholm, Sweden.