My concept “Cat Language” explores feline behavior as the basis for an abstract alphabet system. I observed daily actions — eating, sleeping, walking, playing — and linked each to distinct poses and tail gestures. By reducing these into simplified forms, I aim to build an ideographic alphabet that visually expresses meaning through movement and mood, rather than direct pictorial symbols.

In this stage, I developed a modular system using a cat’s head as a base — stylized as a “big M” with ears. I combined it with variations of legs and tail to express different behaviors and emotions, such as sleeping, walking, or attacking. Each symbol builds from the same foundation but shifts with posture or gesture, forming a cohesive visual alphabet rooted in body language.

I refined my cat-symbol alphabet by selecting and simplifying key forms. I experimented with stroke direction to show different poses, using the “M” shape as a core structure. However, 3 challenges emerged: (1) the symbols may not clearly communicate their meanings; (2) visual differences between some letters are too subtle; (3) more distinct features or visual “signatures” may be needed to enhance clarity and variety across the set.

This final set presents nine cat-inspired letterforms, each carefully refined and placed within a 3×3 grid. I balanced stroke weight, spacing, and curvature to unify the system while keeping each symbol distinct. The consistent “cat-head” framework ties the set together, while variations in tail, ears, and body posture express different behaviors. The result is a playful, ideographic alphabet that visually echoes feline movement and mood.