Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf

My studio had the opportunity to illustrate all of Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf's coffee bag labels that are now on store shelves. The end result is a library of illustrations that live on the company’s coffee packaging. Among them we've tried to capture the diversity of flavors and roasting locations that are found in the world.

Client: The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf
Art Direction: Paul Zappia and Remo Bangayan
Illustration: Paul Zappia and Remo Bangayan
Made with: Adobe Illustrator, Procreate

We had to create artwork that was clear enough for small coffee labels, but detailed enough to be viewed alongside larger brand applications.

Each illustration is inspired by the coffee’s origin. There is so much beauty that surrounds these places.

Overall, we created over two dozen labels for their packaging to be sold worldwide.

Process

The first phase of any illustration project is to do plenty of research. Each of these coffee beans come from diverse parts of the world, each with their one unique flavor (pun intended).

Once research has finished, sketches are the best way to efficiently determine the content and composition of each piece to determine whether the outcome will be visually compelling.

  • illustration of a llama in Peru
  • Illustration of a coral reef and turtle in Hawaii
  • Illustration of temples in Bali
  • Illustration of an old cathedral in Colombia
  • Illustration of parrots flying over Costa Rica
  • Illustration of Eiffel Tower in Paris
  • Illustration of a compass and map
  • illustration of person paddling through a canal in Italy
  • Illustration of three elephants walking together
  • Guatemala
  • Illustration of Tanzania with giraffes and a hillside
  • Illustration of a Bird of Paradise from Papua New Guinea
  • Illustration of flamingos flying over a body of water in Kenya
  • Illustration of an antelope in Brazil
  • Illustration of a hut in Ethiopia
  • Illustration of a tiger in Sumatra
  • Image of an ancient temple in Mexico
  • Illustration of a house on a hillside in Jamaica
  • Illustration of a cup of espresso on a tabletop next to flowers