Le Pussycat is a 1969 logo created for a cinema of the same name by Quebec graphic designers Raymond Bellemare and Gilles Robert. The mark was featured in the first issue of LogoArchive, a zine dedicated to mid-century logo design, where it was highlighted as an example of a brand name being visualized directly through its symbol.[1]
Design and History
The Le Pussycat logo was designed in 1969 for a cinema bearing that name.[1] The cinema itself traces its origins to a Montreal theatre that opened in 1914 as The Globe, later renamed The Hollywood in 1932, before adopting the Pussycat name in 1969 when it became an erotic cinema.[2]
Raymond Bellemare, one of the logo’s designers, studied graphic design at the École des beaux-arts de Montréal, graduating in 1962, and went on to create numerous posters, logos and brand images from the 1960s onward.[3] He later founded his own firm, Raymond Bellemare Designers inc., in 1971.[3]
The logo gained wider recognition when it was included in LogoArchive Issue 1, a 2018 zine by designer Richard Baird that collected animal-themed logos from the 1950s through 1980s.[4][5]
Meaning and Symbolism
The Le Pussycat mark is a direct visual pun on the cinema’s name: it depicts a cat curled up in a lazy, quirky pose.[1] The design was noted in LogoArchive’s coverage as an example of a brand identity that visualizes its company name through a simple, figurative symbol.[1]
Like other logos featured in LogoArchive Issue 1, the Le Pussycat mark was presented in black and white, consistent with the zine’s approach of stripping logos of background context to focus on their form language.[1]
Logo Index is an independent educational archive covering logos, visual identities and graphic design history. All trademarks and brand assets remain the property of their respective owners.
