Arthur Dickey

creative design for a paper cup

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Feb 2018 - Present • 8 yrs 7 mos

For this project, my client was a café and food & beverage brand looking to launch their own branded coffee cups and paper cups something that would look professional on the counter and also work well for takeaway orders. They came to me with just a logo and a rough idea of their brand colors, but no clear direction on how it should translate onto an actual cup. That was the main challenge a flat logo doesn't automatically work on a curved cup surface, and I needed to design something that stayed readable and clean once printed and wrapped around the cup. I started by understanding their brand personality and target customers, then created a few layout concepts playing with logo placement, color blocking, and pattern elements to see what felt most "them." Once we picked a direction, I refined it into print-ready artwork for both the coffee cup and paper cup, keeping the design consistent between the two so their branding felt unified whether a customer got a hot coffee cup or a cold paper cup. Throughout the project, I made sure the files were properly set up for actual printing correct bleed, safe margins, and curved-surface adjustments so there were no surprises at the print stage. The client was very happy with the final design and said it made their cups look far more premium and on-brand than before. The project took a bit longer than usual since we went through a couple of rounds of concept exploration, but the end result was worth it.