Project 1: Cutecumber

Cutecumber is derived from the cucumber wordplay. The concept behind it is all about cuteness; nothing but cute. But most importantly, it is about being cute not only outside but inside too. Inspired from Harajuku Lovers, Cutecumber girlz take on the role of promoting cucumbers through their fantasy-reality world. The world of Cutecumber is created based on the important characteristics of New York. The Cutecumber girlz are born to embody the desire of girls of New York City and the important elements in their life such as knowledge, health, beauty and growth. For example, each Cutecumber girl represents a diverse race and each of the girls embody an element of life. Ella represents knowledge, Jien represents health, Tay represents beauty, and Utina represents growth. The girlz convey the message of Cutecumber through their cute persona, tonality, and style.

The world of Cutecumber is tailored to fit perfectly with their target audiences, which are the young girls of New York City, age 12 to 16. Those girls live in the upper east and west side of Manhattan, New York. The girls have an allowance of around $100/ month. Their occupation is a student, grade 6^th to 10^th. They come from middle class and upper class families with diverse ethnic backgrounds. The Cutecumber’s target audiences have a psychographics profile similar to the cutecumber girlz. They are intellectual, fun, sociable, and out going. They evoke cute, chic, smart, confidence, optimistic, and friendly attitudes. Most importantly, they value inner beauty equally as much as outer beauty, which is also the motto of Cutecumber girlz. They have various interests such as fashion, music, and art. They are trend-shabby and have self-conscious life-style, which constructs their beliefs and behaviors; searching for self-expression, identity, and empowerment.

Rather than using photographs or spoke person, the Cutecumber girlz are illustrated in cute animation inspired from Japanese “baby anime”. The choice was made because it is believed to be the best way to attract young girls and to minimize the emotional detachment that would be generated if photographs or models were used. In addition to that, rather than using mature characters, Cutecumber girlz are illustrated to be around the same age as the target audience. Thus, the Cutecumber girlz are not real life girls but they are representational characters, which could relate to any girls and their needs and desires. San-serif fonts are used to give a less formal, more casual and youthful mood. By using their own “cute” languages, the target market would be more interested to read the texts which are easier to understand too. The tonality of the writing is customized to suit the voice of those girls and the Cutecumber girlz themselves. The choice of having a colorful campaign is made to embody the colorful life of girls of New York City. The dominant color is green because it is not only the color of nature and growth but it is also the color of cucumbers.

The world of Cutecumber and Cutecumber girlz are personalized for the cute girls of New York City.

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Poster Design :