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A Sketchy Café Trend: Interiors Designed to Look Like They're 2D Line Drawings

For those who want to drink coffee in an A-Ha music video

By Rain Noe - December 9, 2019

in Interior/Exhibition Design

For years now, savvy retailers and restauranteurs have known that if you make your interior Instagrammable, you'll increase business. As one example of an eye-catching interior, check out 2D Cafe, located in Tokyo's Shinjuku district:

Some of the interior elements are indeed flat and drawn, like the curtains and the banquette pillows. The tables and chairs, on the other hand, are 3D, but it looks like someone went over all of the edges with a Sharpie to make them look, well, "sketchy."

As expected, patrons are posting shots of themselves on Instagram:

Within Shinjuku, the café is located in the Shin-Okubo area, where Tokyo's Koreatown is located. And I also see that there's a nearly identical-looking 2D Cafe in Seoul, Korea:

Furthermore there's a 2D Bubble Tea Cafe in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia:

If they're all affiliated, there's no mention on any of their sites. Perhaps one of them is the original, and the others are knockoffs? Actually, in my book they're all knock-offs--of a popular '80s music video.

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Simon Backwater

4 years ago

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"Take on me" for sure.

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Juan Cano

4 years ago

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I think there's a place like this in Dubai.

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Rich Glenny

4 years ago

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Below are a couple of other examples from around 2012 that are more restrained in the use of "line" and look a little less jarring.
The Candy Room in Melbourne
Gift Shop in Odessa, Ukraine

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