— PROJECT NAME
Monarch Espresso Bar
— ROLE
Illustration
Merchandise Design
Custom Typography
— DATE
Spring 2024
— SPECS
Procreate
Adobe Illustrator
— PHOTOGRAPHY
by Grant Tincher
Monarch Espresso Bar, a local coffee shop in Tuscaloosa, AL, is dedicated to providing both a quality cup of coffee and a quality experience. Part of this experience is selling funky, fun merchandise that lets customers participate in the company’s unique spirit. To help with this, I was asked by the owners to design a trio of Japanese-style illustrated t-shirts they could release as their newest line of merch.
The first design is a monochromatic composition including a lion being poured a cup of joe and the phrase 'king coffee', wording that was already a part of Monarch’s brand vernacular. Apart from the logo, all of the typography was hand-lettered in order to communicate the celebration of uniqueness and friendliness they pride themselves on.
The second instalment in this animal series is an alligator eating bagels. Monarch hand-makes all of their bagels, and the owners wanted to highlight that idea in a fun, unserious way. The drawing style and lettering are in keeping with that of the first shirt, while the new colours give it a life all its own.
Monarch Coffee Club is a subscription service offered by the cafe. I was asked to design a shirt (above right illustration) as well as keychains, hats, stickers, etc. The hand-lettering keeps with the shirt series I created while the overall design lends itself to being applied to different pieces of merchandise.
