Cat'Mon Doux
Creating a playful funcitonal identity for a non-profit local cat shelter in Strasbourg, France.
Tasks
Brand Identity
Research
Illustration
Merch Design
Social Media Design
Poster Design
Timeline
Jun 2024 - Jul 2023
Context
CAT'MonDoux is a non-profit association based in Strasbourg, run entirely by volunteers, and active in animal protection in eastern France since September 2008.
The association constantly needs to generate more revenue through donations and patrons, recruit new volunteers and foster families, and find adopters for the large number of rescued cats.
Despite their incredible work and the dedication of their volunteers, CAT'MonDoux, like many non-profit organizations, has faced recurring challenges that needed to be addressed.
Challenges
Not enough adoptees
Goals
While exploring possible solutions, it became clear to me that improving visibility and reach would be a crucial step in addressing these challenges. From this insight, I defined three main goals to guide the project:
Modernize and Refresh: Create a modern brand identity that reflects the association's mission and values while appealing to a wider audience.
Visibility and Recognition: Strengthen their visibility and reputation as a compassionate, trustworthy organization in the animal welfare sector.
Consistency: Build a cohesive and consistent brand presence across all platforms and materials.
Analysis
Despite the limited resources, I decided to conducted secondary research to ensure the rebranding was built on a strong foundation. After taking extra time to align with the association on its priorities, objectives, values, and challenges, I carried out a competitor and market analysis to help define the ideal personas.
Secondary
Research
Here's a brief summary of some of the secondary research I did to support the creation of our Ideal Personas.
Survey done by the University of Texas at Austin
Cat owners were more likely to be curious, unconventional in thinking and actions, and more prone to worry than dog people.
Cat people were 11% more likely to be open, according to the survey. Open people tend to be: Curious, Creative, Artistic, Nontraditional thinkers.
Cat people were 12% more neurotic than dog people. Neurotic people are: Easily stressed, Anxious, Worriers
Women were actually slightly more likely than men to own a pet in the first place. 51% of the men surveyed reported that they did not own any pets compared to only 42% of women.
A cat owner in the US is on average a 43 year old white, married female who earns at least $37,000 per annum, she owns 2 cats and her children are older than 18 or at the very least approaching that age. The average cat owner in the US resides in in a suburban environment, where she owns her residence either in New England or the Pacific North-West and she considers her cat to be a part of her family.
Research by the Université de Toulouse
Gender : 11 % of dog owners and 12.,5% of cat owners are men, while 88% of dog owners are women and 87% of cat owners are women.
Single people are more cats then people in relationships.
Urban life is linked to owning cats.
The category of "Intermediary intelectual professions" there was a slight bigger tendance of owning cats.
Ideal Personas
With this information in hand, I was able to clearly define the ideal personas that represent CAT’MonDoux’s two main target audiences: volunteers and future adopters.
Sandrine, Big-hearted Adopter
Sandrine is a 30-year-old teacher, married with two children. Compassionate and family-oriented, she wants to adopt a rescue cat to provide a loving home and teach her children responsibility and empathy. She values organizations that prioritize animal welfare and provide transparent guidance throughout the adoption process. Sandrine looks for a pet that'll fit her family’s lifestyle and appreciates support in finding the perfect match.
Julien, Volunteer & Local Supporter
Julien is a 42-year-old IT specialist from Strasbourg, passionate about animal welfare and community engagement. He volunteers his time and skills to support local rescue efforts, including outreach, fundraising, and event coordination. Julien values transparency, accountability, and meaningful impact, and seeks opportunities to collaborate with like-minded individuals while making a tangible difference in the lives of animals.
Solution
With the personas and research in hand, I had enough information to develop a well-informed and efficient design solution that would be successful in attracting both Sandrine, the potential pet adopter, and Julien, the local supporter and volunteer.
The solution should focus on the following principles to achieve that goal:
Warm and Inviting: The brand design should evoke feelings of warmth, compassion, and friendliness to create a welcoming atmosphere for both potential adopters and volunteers.
Inclusive and Community-Centric: Incorporate elements that reflect a sense of community and inclusivity to appeal to individuals like Sandrine and Julien who value collective action and community engagement.
Playful and Whimsical: Since the brand is associated with pet adoption and animal welfare, incorporating playful and whimsical elements such as illustrations can add a touch of joy and lightheartedness to the brand design.
Informative and Transparent: Prioritize clarity and transparency, providing essential information about the organization's mission, values, and impact.
Empowering and Inspirational: Include motivational messages and empowering imagery that inspire both potential adopters and volunteers to take action and make a difference in the lives of animals.
Authentic and Trustworthy: Build credibility by showcasing real stories, testimonials, and photos of adopted pets and volunteers. Authenticity is key to meaningful connections with adopters and supporters.
Moodboard
I created a moodboard to help me visualize and bring together the elements outlined in the solution above.
It was important to see whether these elements could work together visually and evoke the desired feeling before starting work on the actual design assets.
Fortunately, the elements came together beautifully, and I felt confident that they could successfully capture CAT’MonDoux’s essence.
Final Design
The result is a lively and relatable brand identity, supported by playful typography, original illustrations, and heartwarming photography.
I was very pleased with how this design fulfilled the ideal solution mapped for the personas while also addressing the association's needs.
The new logo suite is versatile and can be applied across a variety of materials.
Soft and soothing colors, including pastel tones and earthy hues, convey comfort and approachability.
The illustrations create a whimsical and joyful atmosphere, appealing to Sandrine's desire to make lasting family memories and Julien's passion for animal welfare.
The clear yet playful typography, easy-to-understand graphics, and bold shapes work well for both serious visuals, such as representing the organization's achievements and goals, and for lighthearted content, for example real stories, testimonials, and photos of adopted pets and volunteers.
A cohesive style unlocks more opportunities for social media assets or merchandise design that actually aids in fundraising efforts.
The warm and spontaneous photography reinforces the genuineness and inclusivity of the association.
Assets
To fully showcase the potential of the new brand, I created a variety of design assets to bring CAT'MonDoux’s new look to life.
These include social media templates, poster designs, and merchandise concepts, all designed to reflect the brand’s warmth, playfulness, and community-focused identity.
Key Takeaways
The Outcome
I couldn’t be happier with how this project turned out. The new identity perfectly captures the playfulness and wit of cats, while conveying a very warm and inviting feeling that I believe will successfully attract new supporters and bring the existing community closer.
The elements are versitile and flexible, so the association can easily apply them across various marketing needs. From brochures to social media posts, merchandise, and products, these assets can improve fundraising and reach, directly addressing their initial challenges.
Reflection
Ideally, I would have spent more time in the Empathize stage of the design process. However, as is often the case in non-profit organizations, resources and time are limited, and volunteers’ time is valuable. Even so, I think I managed to create solid persona profiles with the short amount of information I had on hand.
In the future, I would like to expand this project by supporting the implementation of the new branding and conducting a complete website redesign. Looking further ahead, I would absolutely love to create a platform for the association where they could have all the information and tools they need to run smoothly. It could make it easy to update users about cats, adoptions, events, and fundraising, and include a volunteers-only section so internal communication is centralized, simple, and efficient.