Juca is a small lamp with the shape of a cat, inspired by anti-design. Based off Alessi's products with colors similar to the Memphis Group's. This project deals mainly with the packaging and rendering of Juca's structure. He was built in wood, painted with PVA paints and later covered in varnish.
I'm really happy to have been a part of this project, Juca means a lot to me and I'm grateful for everyone letting me handle the packaging.
The project included creating a backstory for our toy. I'm traslating Juca's story freely. I hope it touches everyone's hearts like it touched mine. Thank you so much for everything.
"There once was a tiny cat named Juca.
He liked to walk around the neighbourhood all day and would come back to his home at night.
One day, whilst walking down the street, Juca found a weird looking puddle. He touched it with his tiny paws, feeling the cold water send shivers down his whiskers. In an impulse, he threw himself into puddle, hoping to feel the funny splash of water and touch the ground above it.
What happened, actually, had him shook. He fell into the puddle, and fell, and fell, and fell. He kept falling in what seemed to be and endless hole. A weird feeling was taking over him. Little by little his eyes began to suffer some kind of mutation, as well as the rest of his body.
His fur began to take a funny shape, it became solid and rigid like wood. All the molecules of his body reorganized in a unique manner, taking geometric shapes. His head was now a square and his body formed a triangle. His colors, before of a regular cat, now mutating in all different shades of yellow, pink, blue...
When Juca finally felt the ground his his feet, he was in a completely unknown place. A jungle without any sign of human life. He was afraid and alone in that strange place. What could he do? He was just a normal kitten.
Afflicted, he entangled himself in the dark woods and suddenly he felt a bright light lit up.
It took a while for him to notice the light came from inside him, like some sort of magic power he gained during his fall.
Juca now searches the way home, illuminating the places where he goes, bringing joy with his strange looking fur and colors."
Credits for some heavy inspo:
Helmo Studio. Check it out at https://helmo.fr/jazzdor-2016/
Propagandism Synergy 05 poster authors. Check it out at https://www.typographicposters.com/propagandism
