Role
Designer
classification
Creative Direction / Packaging Design
/ Branding / Illustration
Kawaii Cafe
For my senior thesis, I was required to develop a brand of my choosing. Inspired by the Kawaii culture in Japan and my niece's love of cats and the color pink, I set out to create an environment similar to the Hello Kitty Grande Cafe in Irvine, CA. Kawaii Cafe is based on the character of my creation: Saku. He's a pink cat who works as a pastry chef in his patisserie. The following are some of the assets created for this project.
character design
The look I had in mind for the character was straightforward: round and cute. After creating the cat's general body shape, I explored several facial expressions and sketched various food items to go with the cafe's branding. After that, I refined my designs and went into production.
