All about our Creative Director, Amelia.
Ever wonder who’s behind the merchandise of Drifter Coffee? Or the graphics that appear on our socials? It me, Amelia E., Drifter Coffee’s very own Creative Director. For the past 4-plus years, I’ve been creating flyers, merchandising and helping elevate our social media accounts with graphic design and illustration.
What would have been our one-year flyer for our coffee shop.
It isn’t an easy feat, but I like to refer to it as one of the coolest gigs around. Creative control, floral patterns, good vibes, bright colors, butt illustrations — I have it all!
What is a Creative Director, you ask? Simply put, I’m in charge of all things branding for the business. Anything visual, aside from photos (our photos are a combination of staff and our very own talented Kailey who shoots our special beverage photos so well that art-directing isn’t even a necessity), is what I do.
My process ranges from sketching to tracing to illustrating digitally. I usually start with a pencil and paper first then digitize my work. Sometimes I skip that step entirely and start with a canvas on Adobe Illustrator. It just depends on what I’m working on and where the inspiration is coming from. The pen and type tools are my best friend. So much so that I even have it tattooed on me.
One of the bigger projects I worked on was the coffee packaging for the Divine Goddess blend. It was an ongoing project for nearly a year. Alleah, the owner, had a vision in mind of a woman being the centerpiece. Then I took that idea and thought, “What if she was growing the coffee plant from her limbs?”
From the initial idea, to brainstorming, to sketching, to finally illustrating and editing, came the final product. The Divine Goddess was born.
Not only is it compostable (except the tin tie and valve — Pacific Bags is coming out with a 100% compostable coffee bag soon!), but it’s sourced from Women Coffee Producers, a program across coffee importers that source coffee from primarily women-run coffee farms in the world.
Isn’t that neat? The coffee packaging is a symbol of the role women play in the coffee industry.
I work with a team of individuals to brainstorm ideas for social media graphics, too. This happens to be one of the more challenging aspects of my position. Sometimes too much creative control leaves me in a creative rut. Having to come up with original ideas and execute them accordingly can prove to be difficult.
Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic as I’m finding it even more difficult to be creative. There’s too much uncertainty in our now and our future that I can’t even begin to create anything of essence.
I find most of my inspiration outside of these walls. I find it in people; in my interactions; in my ever-changing surroundings. But in order to stay safe, we have to stay indoors. If you are opposite of me, and can create graphics and prints that inspire people, then please don’t stop. We need some light during these dark times.
All in all, it’s fun, creative and empowering to be in this position. Recently I’ve embarked on creating phone wallpapers. It’s another fun way to incorporate our branding into our community’s every-day-lives. Our purpose is to bring good vibes and energy into our customers’ day-to-day. There’s power in design and illustration to do just that.
