CWUCute Weirdos Universe

UAL Design / My own brand

An intergalactic
clothing
universe.

A clothing brand born from a story of 150 characters living on different planets, which I founded, designed and ran myself.

Explore the universe
CUTE WEIRDOS UNIVERSE · CWUBRAND CREATION · CHARACTER DESIGN · T-SHIRT DESIGN · WEB · SOCIAL MEDIA
20 COLLECTION COVERSWomen · Men · Unisex · Kids
01 / Building the brandFour stages from story to store

From a story
to a brand.

I didn't just design Cute Weirdos Universe. I wrote its story, drew its characters, opened its store, and founded and ran its company. I went through every stage of a brand on my own and combined that experience with my design expertise.

01 / Brand creation

Turning the story into a brand

I built the brand on top of the story. The characters and their worlds became the defining element that shaped the mission, vision, target audience and strategy.

02 / Brand design

Designing every surface

From the logo and corporate identity to the website, from posters to collection covers, from hero sections to social media kits, I designed every visual myself. I also wrote the product descriptions, the collection copy and the campaign copy.

03 / Branding

Reaching the audience

I managed social media and ran the strategic, copywriting and visual work side by side to reach the target audience through ad campaigns.

04 / Brand management

Keeping the business running

I took on setting up and running the company, basic accounting and the patent process. I also ran the business behind the design.

Disciplines
  • Brand creation
  • Brand design
  • Branding
  • Brand management
  • Web design
  • Social media kit design
  • Logo and corporate identity
  • T-shirt design
  • Character design and storytelling
02 / StoryFrom NFT to textile

Cute weirdos,
distant planets.

Cute Weirdos Universe was born while I was creating NFT projects.

I built a narrative around characters living on planets in different galaxies. Today the story spans 150 characters, and I am currently turning it into a comic book.

Before the comic, I carried the characters onto another surface. I placed compositions built from them on textile products and opened a clothing store on Shopify. The store focused on women's, men's, unisex and kids' categories.

After a while, I closed the digital store to move it into a more niche space. I keep working behind the scenes to take the project to the next level.

150characters
4categories
20product types
Challenge

Turning a digital character universe into a wearable, sellable brand.

Approach

Making every product part of the story: placing the characters into textile compositions.

Outcome

A store launched across four categories, with copy and visuals from the same hand.

03 / IdentityBadge, color and type
The Unique Art Land badge: an owl with spread wings inside a purple circle, a sun above it and the words Power of endless knowledge & creativity THE UNIQUE ART LAND · BADGE

Logo and corporate identity

The wings
of knowledge.

An owl with spread wings

At the center of the badge is an owl with its wings spread and a sun rising above it. The motto beneath, “Power of endless knowledge & creativity”, carries the value the brand places on knowledge and creativity. The badge sits in the same spot and at the same size on banners, covers, posts and product sleeves. The store itself lives on under the CWU abbreviation, as Cute Weirdos Universe.

  • Night purple #481362
  • Dusty rose #a47586
  • Orchid #c294a8
  • Powder pink #f0c3e3
  • Ash #c4b6b4
  • Off-white #e1ddd8
Find your unique art land

Wide headline

The big call to action on the collection heroes and the website.

Back to School

Campaign headline

Discount cards, buttons and price tiers.

Freedom

Script accent

A friendly touch on t-shirt graphics and campaigns.

The samples on this page are shown in web fonts close to the typefaces used in the designs.

04 / Collection coversFive collections, twenty covers

Twenty products.
One system.

I designed a cover for each product type and set them all on the same grid. When they line up side by side in the store, the only things that change are the model and the product; everything else speaks in the brand's voice.

Background

An isometric cube pattern fading from pink to ash.

Left edge

The product type set vertically: the cover's title.

Bottom right

The owl badge, a Shop Now button and the site address.

Center

The product and model carrying the character graphic.

Crop TopKids & teens
Kids' Crew Neck T-ShirtKids & teens
Short SleeveKids & teens
Youth Crew NeckKids & teens

Click a cover to enlarge it, then use the arrows to move through the other covers in the same collection.

05 / Collection pagesHero images

Find your
unique art land.

I built the openings of the collection pages around a single call to action: a large headline on the left, the product in the middle, the badge and button on the right. The cube pattern carries the background here too, so the eye stays in the same world when moving from covers to pages.

Sheath Dress trio01
Curved Hem duo02
Spiral notebooks03
Skater Skirt duo04
Skater Dress trio05
Sports Bra and Leggings06
Leggings trio07
Stainless steel water bottle08
06 / CampaignsBack to school and end of summer

Like a
shopping list.

I built the campaign banners around the idea of a checklist. Each banner lists the products in the campaign next to boxes waiting to be ticked, alongside tiered discounts and a free shipping badge. Torn paper, tape and a zebra pattern give them the collage feel of a school notebook.

  • 10%2 items
  • 15%3 items
  • 18%4 items
Campus campaign, sportWall application
Campus campaign, apparelWall application
07 / Social media@cuteweirdos.universe

In the feed,
the same universe.

I designed the Instagram feed as an extension of the store. The posts rotate between three visual languages, and they all share the same cube background and the same badge.

@cuteweirdos.universe

Collection cardsFeed
Kids, teens and menFeed
Campaigns in the feedSquare format
08 / Websitecuteweirdos.com

Everything
in one storefront.

I built the store on Shopify. The homepage hero changed with the campaigns: at one point the Find your unique art land call, at another the Kids & Teens discounts. The top menu stayed minimal; the visuals carried the weight.

HomepageDesktop
Campaign heroDesktop
Platform

Shopify store

Women's, men's, unisex and kids' categories, each collection with its own page and hero.

Copy

The brand's voice

I wrote the product descriptions, the collection copy and the campaign copy myself.

Connection

NFT meets store

On some heroes, the button pointed to the NFT collection on Solana instead of the store.

Cute Weirdos Universe / Ongoing

Cute weirdos,
on new pages.

The store has closed, but the universe keeps growing. Next stop: a comic book of the 150 characters.

Brand creation · Character · Textile · Web · Social media Back to top ↑

Project credits

Cute Weirdos
Universe

A clothing brand born from an NFT story, which I founded, designed and ran.

Founder and design
Özge Sapancı / UAL Design
Project type
My own brand: story, product, store and company
Disciplines
Brand creation, brand design, branding, brand management, web design, social media kit design, logo and corporate identity, t-shirt design, character design and storytelling
Categories
Women, men, unisex, kids
Platform
Shopify · cuteweirdos.com · Instagram @cuteweirdos.universe
Status
The store was closed in order to move into a more niche space. I am working on a comic book of the story.
Where does the story come from?

While I was creating NFT projects, I drew characters living on planets in different galaxies. Today this 150-character universe defines the brand's mission, vision and target audience.

What did I do beyond design?

Setting up and running the company, basic accounting, the patent process, social media management and ad campaigns. I experienced every stage of a brand on my own.

Next projectwill be yours