The coffee shop is akin to Rock Music—It’s a very restrictive format but how you creatively play with the form can yield a myriad of surprising expressions and infinite results within its limits. Each shop is a sort of shrine to belief and experience ranging from funky & home spun warmth, to an eye toward high end contemporary architecture and design, and all manner in-between. Partially because of the nature of this Yearbook project Sven Hoffman (design+photos) and I have worked on for the past 4 years, and mostly because of my love of deeply satisfying espresso drinks, when I walk into a new coffee shop I notice the choices in each space, what is added, what is subtracted, and why.
This post includes: Book cover, end pages, spread selections, sketchbook pages, and back cover .
Where a diverse variety of people come together and why has always been a personal interest of mine and the coffee shop typifies this sort of space and experience with the espresso machine is at it’s heart. Some of the favorite shops I’ve visited around the world have simply been a La Marzocco prominently displayed on the counter with almost nothing else in the space, shown with the reverence of a sculpture on display at a contemporary art museum. These machines are things of beauty, lovingly hand crafted to yield an exceptional and satisfying beverage, and seeing a La Marzocco in a shop is like seeing an old friend as I saw them assembled by hand from pieces on tables the at factory in Italy when I when I was invited to spend a few days to get to know the company, the “global family” feel, vibe, and approach. I was told the company history from those close to the founding fathers of the company, drew images on the factory floor as the employees assembled the machines and had rousing matches of foosball on their lunch-break, and was regularly treated to exceptional espresso and great company at every turn. Enjoy.
I love working with designers interested in playing with and remixing my sketchbook images as it always yields surprising and unexpected results. I’ve worked with some very adventurous designers to explore what’s possible in this regard and Sven is tops.
No comments:
Post a Comment