Design / Cutso

Cutso, was a Fashion-Tech startup aiming to challenge the fashion industry's design and manufacturing process. As part of their pre-seed stage, I developed their brand language and contributed to designing their Minimum Viable Product.

Branding

I worked closely with the founder of Cutso, guiding him through a comprehensive brand exploration process to establish a strong visual identity for the startup. We began with in-depth discussions to define the brand’s vision, aided by moodboards to explore aesthetic directions.

Mood Boards

Initial Logo Explorations

After completing the moodboarding phase, I began exploring a range of logo concepts that would define Cutso’s visual identity. To provide a well-rounded approach, I developed three distinct design directions: retro, modern, and vintage. Each capturing a unique aspect of the brand’s personality. Through an iterative process, I refined these concepts based on the founder’s feedback, ensuring that the final direction aligned with the company’s vision and values. As we narrowed down the options, Cutso’s branding started to take shape, establishing a strong foundation for its overall identity and design system.

Identity Expansion & Design System

After exploring multiple design directions, we selected the retro-inspired logo as the foundation for Cutso’s brand identity, as it best captured the startup’s vision and personality. From there, I expanded the brand by developing brand guidelines, which consist of logo variations , defining a cohesive color palette, and selecting complementary typography. To further strengthen the brand’s visual language, I curated imagery and graphic elements that reinforced its aesthetic, ensuring consistency across all touchpoints.

Investor Pitch Deck Design

I collaborated with the founder to design branded pitch decks that clearly communicated Cutso’s vision to potential investors. Using the brand’s visual identity, I ensured the decks were visually engaging while maintaining clarity and focus on key information. Each slide was carefully crafted to balance compelling visuals with concise messaging, helping the founder effectively present the startup and secure investor interest.

App Design

After establishing the brand identity, I transitioned into UI/UX design to visualize what the Cutso platform could look like. The core concept was to create a user-driven system where individuals could vote on design ideas, determining which concepts should progress from ideation to development—ultimately reducing waste from unwanted products.

At the heart of this experience was the Cutso Lookbook, a swiping interface that allowed users to easily like or dislike design ideas, making the process both engaging and intuitive. I designed high-fidelity mockups and built a clickable prototype, providing investors with a tangible vision of the app’s functionality and potential impact.

Mockups

Apparel Design

I collaborated with the founder to create design concepts for testing potential clothing manufacturers. I developed multiple designs, one of which was selected for production as a test shirt.

For hand-drawn elements, I worked closely with an illustrator to bring the concepts to life, while the remaining designs were crafted using Adobe Illustrator. This process helped refine the brand’s aesthetic and assess production feasibility.

Cutso was ultimately unable to secure funding, and I eventually transitioned away from the project.

As a final gesture, the founder sent me the only test shirt produced—a piece manufactured in Italy. To this day, I wear it as a reminder of the creativity and collaboration that shaped the brand.