Pueblo

Life

Exposition

Rooted in community, growing with purpose. Pueblo is a neighborhood houseplant shop, cafe, and garden—striking curiosity and planting community since 2015.

Pueblo is more than a name—it’s a way of life–with the namesake literally translating to community. As an LGBTQ+-owned and operated business, they cultivate community through their carefully curated indoor and outdoor plant nursery, with offerings selected to withstand the harsh desert climate. Beyond plants, Pueblo is a cafe, a garden, a gift and home goods shop, and offers landscape design services. They believe in sustainability, both for the environment and their people, providing a living wage to their core team and staying true to what they know best: Plants, People, and Place.

Visitors are invited to linger in the coffee garden, where Caffio Espresso Bar serves drinks from a one-of-a-kind VespaCar nestled among the greenery. Pueblo isn’t just a place to shop—it’s a gathering space. Each month, they host several types of events, including their beloved Garden Sessions, which offer cannabis enthusiasts a warm invitation to all to unwind and light up a different kind of plant from their usual offering in a safe environment with live music, delicious food, craft drinks, and an atmosphere designed for connection and relaxation.

They’ve also won Phoenix New Times’ Best Plant Shop in Phoenix for 2023 and 2024 👏

The following direction was part of a pitch for a versatile and modular logo that works in various spaces and shapes. Creative direction, branding, and design by Zach Bates. Ocelot illustration by Albert Barroso.

work completed

Modular logo system
Coffee shop concept logotype
Illustrated ocelot mark

Color palette
Seamless patterns
Typography + tagline

The Ocelot Mark

Phoenix is at the very northern reach of the Sonoran Desert - which is both the newest and wettest desert on earth. The end of the contiguous American subtropics lie in our desert, which means we have some incredible animals blurring the lines between tropics and our colder mountains to the north.

Ocelot Fan Club

The term lovingly given to Pueblo’s avid shop-goers and Garden Sessions participants.

Arizona is home to the last Jaguar population in the United States, and one of the last populations of Ocelots. Pueblo hopes by having such a charismatic creature at the forefront, they can spur a conversation out of curiosity about incredible impact humans, and their borders, have on nature.

Modular Logo in Action

One of the first items updated with the chosen branding—a simplified version of the concept shown above—was a set of hand-painted, custom A-frame signs. Made to complement the arch-shaped variation, a favorite that has seen repeated use, these signs seamlessly align with the brand’s evolving identity.