Cuties
Cuties is an LBGTQIA cafe in Los Angeles, CA that's creating a meeting space for the queer community and their allies.
+ Identity Design
With record since the dawn of time, in every culture from Native America to East Africa to the Pacific Islands. Religiously and mystically and historically the queer community is incredibly vast and often wildly underrepresented.
Cuties, located in Los Angeles, is a cafe and a community space for queer identified people and their allies, the word “queer” being in reference to LGBTQIA communities [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual] as well as individuals who feel like they exist outside of societal norms in regards to gender and/or sexuality [ie kinky, polyamorous, non-binary] folks.
Pulled from moodboards presented to clients speaking to thematic design directions; photographer unknown
Cuties had a vision of creating a space and brand that was reminiscent of 1920's Los Angeles Art Deco, inspired by femme fatale, deco-style pin up illustrations, Ziegfeld Follies, Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore. Stylistically this was a really interesting starting point allowing us to research conceptual directions ranging from Mawu-Lisa an androgynous African deity to gender-altering fish, while still drawing back to this fun idea of "how do we deco-ize this?"
Pulled from moodboards presented to clients speaking to thematic design directions; image by artist Claude Cahun from “Under this mask, another mask”
The Magic Head—femme yet butch, playful yet mysterious, deco yet modern. An ambiguous image [eg Rubins vase] of sorts, in itself poetic, pushes the idea that a single mark can be representative of a beautifully complex range of people, simultaneously.
The Magic Head is versatile beyond it's ability to be flipped. Using the simple shapes to construct an alternate mark, or isolating the lips and dimple as a graphic accent, this allows the Cuties team room to play and construct.
Magic Head construction
Alternate mark construction
Accent graphic
