Brand identity and illustration for a chef-driven café bringing creativity and personality to the grab-and-go experience.

Cûra takes its name from the Latin word cura, meaning care, attention, concern, or thoughtful tending. That sense of care became a natural starting point for the creative process.

I began with a conversation with Chef David Ruiz, an award-winning executive chef at the Overland Park Convention Center. Food is deeply personal, often shaped by years of family traditions, cultural influences, and lived experiences. With that in mind, we explored his background, culinary philosophy, and vision for Cûra, looking for the stories and connections that could help inspire the creative direction.

Chef David grew up surrounded by seasonal ingredients, home cooking, and shared meals on his grandmother’s farm in Northern California. One memory in particular stood out during our conversation: the persimmon trees. Their colors became a starting point for Cûra’s palette, drawing from the surroundings and experiences that had quietly shaped his instincts as a chef.

Cûra would operate as a grab-and-go café inside the convention center, but Chef David wanted the experience to feel more than a typical quick-service stop. His creative launch menu became a major source of inspiration for the visual direction, influencing the illustrations, organic shapes, and color palette. We also worked in a few personal touches, including an avocado inspired by his love for them, tucked into the visual language as a little Easter egg.

The resulting identity brought those influences together through expressive illustrations, playful graphic elements, and a vibrant color palette. The goal was to bring a little more personality to an everyday grab-and-go experience, reflecting the creativity behind the food and making even a quick visit feel like a moment worth enjoying.

For my portfolio, I explored how the identity could extend beyond its original convention center setting, using conceptual mockups to imagine Cûra as a standalone café and demonstrate the flexibility of the visual system. Work completed during my time at Lifted Logic. Design and execution were my own, with feedback from the team throughout the process.