The cat's finally out of the bag.
So, we work with a lot of coffee shops. But what's cool about what we do is that it's different every time.
Gato Pingado is not the first cat cafe in Brazil, but it's definitely the coolest.
Bringing together great quality specialty coffee, grandma style cakes and toasts (with a little dash of cat-ness *you'll see what I mean later on), while doing something that very few cat cafes do: Allowing patrons to not just visit the cats, but adopt those kitties and give them a loving home. All housed in a cozy renovated two story house in the middle of São Paulo.
And all that while also being a lifestyle brand with its own products both for cats and their humans.
We worked with Sabrina, the owner and founder, to create something unique from the ground up, refining the feeling around the brand, developing a strategy, creating the name, the visual identity, designing products and much more.
Needless to say, this is much more then just a cat-themed coffee shop.
Let's me get you up to speed on what a cat café is all about in case you're lost.
A cat café is basically a coffee shop where you can hang out with cats. Kinda simple really, which is what makes it genius.
Sabrina came with a few ideas of her own, but we always like to step back and look at the project as a whole.
We felt that the whole concept of a cat cafe is already conceptually engaging enough, and adding to much fluff to that would just make things messy.
So we pitched an idea that was a little “cleaner” then was previously envisioned. We wanted to steer clear of looking too childish or feminine. And though the whole concept around “cats” is inherently cute, we wanted to make sure that the identity didn't stop there. We wanted it to be weird and quirky too.
During the strategic stage, some points gained a lot of importance for us, the first of which was to convey the right feeling, a light-filled, relaxed place for everyone. Basing it on the behavior of cats felt right to us: fun, but not childish.
We are not architects, but when it comes to coffee shops, we tend to start by thinking about the architecture.
A huge part of the whole strategy around the brand was to not use cats as a theme. It's wasn't about putting cats faces on everything and calling it a day.
Studioino did an amazing job taking our references and bringing the universe around cats into the architecture in a tasteful and subtle way.
On every project we have 3 main objectives we are trying to fulfill: familiarity, surprise and anticipation.
We might talk about the other objectives in depth in some other project at some point, but for this one, anticipation was key.
We saw the potential for Gato Pingado to be not just a coffee shop, or a cat café, but something way bigger.
We envisioned it as a lifestyle brand, that would carry their own products, both for cats and humans.
Our goal was that at one point, there would be some people buying their products not even knowing they are also a cat café.
From tees and socks, to mugs and coffee beans, Gato Pingado has been consolidating itself as a true lifestyle brand with cats and their owners in mind.
But perhaps our flagship products are our ceramics, which were designed by us from scratch.
Our bowl's materials, hight, size and shape were thoughtfully designed with the cat's comfort in mind.
These products shouldn't be just for cats thought, they were also made to be able to be displayed in any modern home.
And again, just like with the architecture of the coffee shop, we wanted to bring in the cats references in a subtle way. A great exemple of this is our beloved "pawed" ceramic cup.
The purpose of design is not just to make a project aesthetic, it is also about positioning, defining objectives and strategy. So a big part of this project was to help them understand and express themselves. They fight for animal causes, breaking prejudices and giving abandoned cats a home.
For them, it was always more about humans and cats connecting than the coffee itself.
Now, of course, the quality of the drinks, food and atmosphere is what makes the connection happen. The shop is always full and is the cat café with the highest number of followers and the highest engagement in SP, becoming a tourist spot for cat lovers visiting the city.
In less than a year, they have already found a home to more than 100 cats, reached financial sustainability and, are really coming to their own as a lifestyle brand with their own products.
Strategy – Gabriel Macohin, Paulo Doi, Rafael Alves, Isabela Raposeiras
Design – Gabriel Macohin, Rafael Alves, Fernanda Lima, Paulo Doi
Packaging Design – Rafael Alves, Fernanda Lima, Paulo Doi
Illustration – Paulo Doi, Fernanda Lima
Product Design – Paulo Doi, Fernanda Lima
Photography – Jota Oshiro
Video / Animation / 3D / Sound Design – Paulo Doi
Packaging Design – Rafael Alves, Fernanda Lima, Paulo Doi
Illustration – Paulo Doi, Fernanda Lima
Product Design – Paulo Doi, Fernanda Lima
Photography – Jota Oshiro
Video / Animation / 3D / Sound Design – Paulo Doi
Architecture – Studioino
Human models – Sarah Alves Barbosa, Pedro Donagá, Jota Oshito, Paulo Doi
Feline models – Jaime, Proko Panko
Feline models – Jaime, Proko Panko
*all cats involved in this production were thoroughly compensated with treats.
