Personal Project | Event & Product Design

A pop-up cat cafe event sponsored by the Los Angeles Cat Rescue to increase fosters/adoptions and raise money.

Software Tools: Figma, Adobe AfterEffects, Adobe Illustrator, Procreate

Read more below


The Problem
With stray cats on the rise, the Los Angeles Cat Rescue needs an event to promote their initiative to place more cats and kittens into homes! It’s difficult to bring potential pet parents into shelters, so what if we were able to bring the cats to the people in an event? It’s something kind of like speed-dating but for kitties! The big question to answer is...

how might we create an engaging experience to inspire people to adopt and foster shelter cats?




Design


Cat Cafe Build

My concept was to take over a small storefront space in a local mall where a lot of people would come through and reskin it to act as a cat oasis! There’s a capacity of about 10 guests at a time. To keep the area clean, shoes would be checked in at the front before entering the play area. I sketched this idea out on an isometric plane for clarity.

The lower section of the space is for cat and human interactions, there’s seating available in the form of a long enclosed couch, corner chair, and sitting stools. 

 The top section is for cats only! A place for the kitties that still want to watch the action, but need a breather from human touch, there are windows for them to spy and for humans to admire from below. If cats need an escape altogether whether it be to relieve themselves, or to just leave the action, there’s a hidden cat pathway to the back employee room underneath the yellow table.



Alternate View 
We can see the back wall where employees (and cats!) can come in and out.
*AI AI-generated images from my original sketches. 
This was just a quick test to get a more 3D rendering of the concept. 
I had hand-painted over several elements to match my drawings better.
Branding
   
Colors
For the branding of this cat rescue, I chose pastel colors that are often associated with babies/young children to evoke feelings of protectiveness and innocence. I wanted Los Angeles Cat Rescue to feel like a homey organization rather than unfamiliar and corporate. The color also serves to stand out well against both light and dark backgrounds without adjustment.

Logo/Symbols
Again, I went with basic symbols of triangles, circles, and squares, similar to the building blocks in children‘s playsets to create the subtle face of a cat. The shapes also utilize all 4 colors and further push the association with childlike innocence.

Illustration
I opted for a vector-based illustration style with clean lines and strong shape language to pair with the strong shapes in the logo. I felt that having illustrative elements in the promotional materials as well as photos would help set LACR to catch the eye of bigger crowds.


Promotional Materials
LACR Social Media

Instagram posts promoting the event with the unique hashtag #meetyourCATch2024. Photos were taken by me of my own two cats, QiQi and MeiMei (both being rescues themselves)!



Merch

Merch for participants at the event to purchase and/or win! Illustrative style and LACR logo would be utilized for unique merchandise. 

Pins could be handed out as freebies to help promote and raise awareness of the Rescue. The more expensive items like the tote and shirt would be available to purchase at the event or on the LACR website.

All proceeds would go to supporting the cats in shelters and supporting the LACR.
Billboards and Digital Signage



Billboard Ad, designed to catch the driver‘s eyes from a distance

Animated Digital Interface Ad, swiping through cat “profiles” is a little reference to dating app interactions to play off the hashtag #meetyourCATch2024




© Anna Hemsworth 2024