Coffee For Lovers

Brief

This project was very much a passion project. When my friend, who owns a local favorite mobile coffee company, approached me about collaborating on a project, I was stoked. I live in a beautiful but rural area with a lot of untapped potential, and I love being able to support local businesses in the area that align with my interests. The owner, Rob, was looking to create a campaign that showcased the “more playful side of the Coliseum brand.” The design needed to be unisex with a bit of a Southwest vibe to be used on hats, mugs, and stickers. Rob envisioned a design intended for darker ink on light-colored t-shirts with ability to be inverted.

Process

In conversations at the skatepark, Rob introduced me to Dwight Yoakam—the country music star known for being one of the last great American cowboys. Yoakam started as something of an outsider in the country music industry. After being disillusioned by the overproduced radio country of the ’80s, he found an unlikely home in the punk rock scene of Bakersfield, California. Rob and I share a bond of identifying as cultural outsiders in the skate and alternative music scenes, and he thought Dwight would be the perfect symbol for the campaign.

Solution

Accompanied by the tagline “Coffee for Lovers,” the design provides a unifying symbol for the outsiders of our community. I used a grainy brush stroke and hand-drawn illustration style that feels at home in the punk rock counterculture yet is approachable for trendy coffee lovers. I went beyond the brief by providing alternative lockups that elevate the design from just a one-off t-shirt to a full-fledged campaign. One of my favorite additions to this project was incorporating my wife’s hand drawing. I’ve always loved the aesthetics of her penmanship, and I thought it might fit well with the illustration style. I had her write out the tagline several times, which I then manipulated slightly to fit with the illustrations. It turned out better than I even imagined, resulting in a playful wordmark that works well both with the illustrations and on its own. It was the perfect tie-in to the heart of the campaign—the design is literally a collaboration of lovers for a lover/client/friend for an audience of lovers.