Local coffee-to-go brand brews challenge for Northern Ireland’s future designers to mark 10-year anniversary
Local graphic design students tasked with creating a commemorative design for the Barista Bar to-go and re-useable cups to mark the anniversary
Northern Ireland’s leading coffee-to-go brand Barista Bar is celebrating 10 years serving local communities across the country by teaming up with Ulster University Belfast School of Art & Design to help them mark a decade of great coffee.
The local graphic design students have been tasked with creating a commemorative design for the Barista Bar to-go and re-useable cups to mark the anniversary as part of the students’ final year professional practice module, with the opportunity for the winning reusable cup design to go into production to be sold on the Barista Bar e-commerce store.
Barista Bar was established in 2015 by Henderson Foodservice, part of the Henderson Group, setting out to revolutionise the coffee-to-go experience by combining high-quality coffee with the ultimate convenience, right on shoppers’ doorsteps. The brand has now become a household name in Northern Ireland, with 450 locations across the country and a rapidly growing presence in the UK.
This partnership is the first of its kind for Barista Bar and invites fifty final year students to design a special cup collection that embodies the upbeat, playful and optimistic tone of the Barista Bar brand. This unique project will challenge students to create a celebratory 10th birthday design while reflecting Barista Bar’s commitment to sustainability and community, providing real-world design experience.
Research has shown that real world experiences allow students to engage in their communities and further develop academic knowledge and skills for future employability.
Keavy O’Mahony-Truesdale, brand manager at Barista Bar explains why this is important to the brand.
“This partnership is a great opportunity for the students to gain insight into how important design and storytelling is for the Barista Bar brand, providing real world experience of the industry. This is the first collaboration of this kind for Barista Bar which aims to bring an opportunity to the next generation of artists, designers and coffee lovers for the students’ experience and the significant benefits they could take away from this.
“Good luck to all the students, we can’t wait to see the designs they produce!”
Jill Spratt, course director and lecturer in advertising, design and branding at Ulster University, explained: “This is a fantastic opportunity for our students to gain practical knowledge working with a leading local brand and will encourage them to produce design work that responds to a live client brief.
“We want to thank Barista Bar for this partnership as being involved will provide a unique opportunity to engage with a real client and develop important experience for their future working in the creative sector.”
Students have until March 30 to submit their work and winning designs will be chosen by the Barista Bar marketing team. Prizes will include the production of the winning cup design, which will be available for purchase on Barista Bar’s website and the Barista Bar Café at Eurospar Fortfield, alongside a featured student profile. The winner will also receive a year’s supply of free Barista Bar coffee and a Barista Bar hamper.