Viva Grafix
Speculative Identity Work
Tenerife · 2024
Brand Identity
La Marea Surf School
Puerto de la Cruz
La
Marea
Surf School · Martianez Beach · Puerto de la Cruz
28°24′N · 16°33′W
Atlantic · North Coast
Tenerife, Canary Islands
LM
02 — Type System
Playfair Display · DM Mono · DM Sans
Marea
Playfair Display — Display face
North Swell
Atlantic
A high-contrast transitional serif. The thick-thin stroke drama reads as editorial authority — closer to The Surfer's Journal than a surf-shop poster. At 900 weight for display it reads as pressure. The italic carries the brand name as though it always belonged there.
— In context: session card
North Atlantic,
Martianez.
Beginner Group · Nov 2024 · €45
Cold water, honest conditions. Six students per instructor — equipment included. The session starts at first light, when the tide is right.
DM Mono · Coordinates, Prices, Tides
28°24′N · 16°33′W
06:14 · 0.4m · Low
€45 / 2 hrs
A geometric monospace for coordinates, prices, tide tables. Every numeral in its own column — tide heights, session windows, cost per hour. Tracking widened at small sizes so it reads as data, not decoration.
"The sea at Puerto de la Cruz does not perform. It simply moves — grey and Atlantic, full of cold intention."
A neutral humanist sans. Light weight (300) only — the moment it goes regular it reads corporate. Optical size range holds at caption sizes without collapse.
02 Type System — La Marea · Brand Identity
03 — Colour Palette
Five colours.
One coast.
Derived from the north Atlantic at Martianez Beach
Atlantic
Ocean
#0D2233
Extracted from depth-chart data at thirty metres — the ocean below the swell at Martianez, where the break forms and the light stops reaching.
Basalt
#1A1C1E
Volcanic. Wet. Not quite black — the distinction matters. Every full-bleed spread lives here.
Kelp
#3D5A47
Channel mid-depth: cold, present, asking nothing. The colour that gives Ocean and Signal room without disappearing itself.
Sand
#D6C9A8
The beach between sessions — still wet, catching morning light. Paper stock for the booklet. Warmth the palette earns, not decorates.
Signal
#D45C25
Wetsuit lining. Safety flag. The italic that names the brand. One temperature in a cold system — it carries everything.
No Caribbean turquoise. No sunset coral gradient. The palette reads the actual coastline — north Atlantic, mineral, serious. One signal-orange accent holds all the heat the brand requires. Nothing else is rationed because nothing else competes.
03 Colour Palette — La Marea · Brand Identity
04 — Hero Application
Surf Lesson Booklet
A5 · 8 pages
Printed on 150gsm uncoated
Saddle-stitched
Given at registration
La
Marea
Surf School
Session Guide
Autumn — Winter 2024
Martianez Beach, PDC
The Atlantic
at its most itself.
01
About / Sobre Nosotros
North coast.
No shortcuts.
La Marea operates on Martianez Beach — Puerto de la Cruz's working surf break on Tenerife's Atlantic north coast. The sea here is cold in winter, fast in swell, and honest about ability. We teach beginners to read that sea. We push intermediate surfers past their plateau. We leave advanced surfers to find their own lines.

All sessions are capped at six students per instructor. We use 9'2″ foam longboards for beginners and performance shortboards for those who've earned them. Equipment is included.
02
Sessions & Prices / Clases
Beginner Group
2 hrs · max 6 · equipment included · Ages 12+
€45
Intermediate Group
2.5 hrs · max 4 · shortboards available
€55
Private 1:1
2 hrs · any level · tailored goals
€90
Kids' Club
1.5 hrs · ages 7–11 · max 5 · ratio 1:3
€38
5-Session Pack
Any combination · valid 3 months
€195
All prices include equipment, wetsuit (5/3mm), and liability insurance. Surf conditions subject to daily assessment. Cancellations refunded with 24h notice.
04
November Tides / Mareas
TimemCondition
06:140.4Low — session window opens
09:301.1Rising — best beginner window
12:422.8High — advanced only
15:182.1Falling — intermediate window
18:550.6Low — evening close
What To Bring / Qué Traer
Swimwear beneath your wetsuit — we provide the rest. Sunscreen (reef-safe). Water bottle. A towel. Arrive 15 minutes before your session. Wetsuits are rinsed and dried between sessions.
05
04 Hero Application · Surf Lesson Booklet A5 — La Marea
La Marea board nose decal against volcanic stone wall
Application — Board Nose Decal
Vinyl die-cut, 200mm wide. Wave-contour mark in Signal orange + paper white applied to board nose. Volcanic basalt wall, Martianez Beach.
La Marea gear on beach bench
"Martianez at low tide.
First light, cold water.
The brand takes
the same position."
La Marea · Martianez Beach · PDC
05 Detail & In-Context — La Marea · Brand Identity
Brand Identity System
Client — La Marea Surf School
Location — Puerto de la Cruz
Tenerife, Canary Islands

Studio — Viva Grafix
Project — Speculative Rebrand
Year — 2024

Display — Playfair Display
Utility — DM Mono
Body — DM Sans
Strategic Rationale
North coast.
A different category
entirely.
"Restraint is not austerity. It is knowing what the north Atlantic already says — and not adding more."
The strategic premise is geographic. La Marea operates on the north coast of Tenerife — Atlantic-facing, cold in winter, resistant to the resort-south aesthetic that saturates the island's surf market. The rebrand accepts this without apology. The palette is extracted directly from Martianez: deep-ocean navy at depth, volcanic basalt at the shoreline, kelp-green in the channel, wet-sand neutral for paper, and a single signal orange drawn from wetsuit linings — not from sunsets. There is no gradient. Playfair Display lends the editorial authority of The Surfer's Journal; DM Mono handles coordinates, prices, and tide times with chartographic precision. The wave-contour mark is derived from bathymetric interval lines — the shape of the Martianez break mapped at depth — and holds at 65mm embroidered, 12mm printed on a board nose, and 200px on screen. The system succeeds because it offers what every other surf school in Tenerife declines to: restraint without austerity, confidence without performance.
La Marea
Viva Grafix
Portfolio Work · Tenerife
vivagrafix.studio
06 Strategic Rationale — Viva Grafix · Speculative Identity 2024