Starbucks Art

I adore Starbucks. No other coffee will do, but it's more than that. I receive superior customer service there. It's a great way to start the day, with a smile and with the inspirational "How I See It" on your cup.

I am also madly in love with the graphic artists that work for Starbucks. If you like graphic art and logos, Starbucks is a visual cornucopia. The Starbucks mermaid is the cutest logo I've ever seen. I'm also in love with their gum tins, their cards, their pamphlets, their cups (see my favorite Starbucks cup here). I've been very noble in exercising restraint when it came to their thermoses. They are so cute I could have had an entire collection!

Here are some examples of Starbucks' graphic art I've collected.

Gum tins. I want to have these framed.

Detail of gum tins.  Here are a few of the cards I've collected.




My personal favorite:
Isn't it fab? I adore it! You can even design your own card at their website. Wouldn't that make a great gift? (link)

Love this coaster. I've shown this before, but it makes sense show it again. This is one of the finest examples of type I've ever seen. I could see this piece rasterized and hung in a dining room in a loft. The dining room, would of course be all white and have a pale rustic farm table like this one:

I'd love to see a combination the Paton S chair and the ghost chair with this table. This is one of my favorite dining rooms of all time. I keep it my inspiration file and think it would be a perfect counterpart to the industrial kitchen I wrote about below. Image from Dwell, May 2006. Sorry for the tangent, that's how my brain works. One thing influences the other. Creativity influences creativity.

To the guidance counselor who talked me out of becoming a graphic designer: I wish I hadn't listened.

To young people everywhere: trust your heart.

To the graphic artists at Starbucks: thanks for being an inspiration!

That's how I see it.