Just like Mariah Carey, Starbucks is welcoming the holiday season a wee bit early.
Starting Nov. 7, the coffee chain announced that its highly-anticipated holiday cup designs will be arriving in stores, just as it does away with its nondairy milk upcharge.
Heading up the design effort was Kristy Cameron, Starbucks’ creative director, who said that her team was inspired by “genuine moments of joy” for the look and feel of this year’s cups.
“Whether that’s coffee trees growing, beans roasting, cups toasting, or lights glowing — we wanted to share the warmth of our coffeehouse and the anticipation of the red cups arriving with our customers and partners,” Cameron said in a press release.
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This year’s theme is “Merrier Together,” which the coffee giant says relates to its whole holiday campaign, with a palette that pairs Starbucks’ green and cranberry red with soft pastels inspired by fondant icing. Graphic elements take inspiration from vintage holiday ornaments, peppermints and other holiday favorites.
“We’re really excited to lean into greens this year,” Cameron said, putting special emphasis on the “vibrant and bright” jade green present in four out of the five designs.
The hot cup sleeves include a “wavy motif” with a scalloped edge treatment, called the “siren wave,” as well as little badges for baristas to write messages.
The Scene
Warm Wishes
For the Warm Wishes cup, Starbucks designers were inspired by the overhead view of coffee cups coming together and toasting one another. The interconnected dots also look like the bokeh of glowing holiday lights, when circles of light blur together in harmony.
Joyful Connection
Starbucks took inspiration from coffee roasting for the Joyful Connection cup, pointing to the “round metal cooling tray” that its coffee is released into at its Reserve locations, as well as the whirling of a “mechanical arm” that cools the beans. These steps involve circular shapes which are combined to form this pattern concept.
Lyrical Landscape
“Vibrant, undulating lines” are threaded together for the Lyrical Landscape cup. The chain says the design is like a “perfectly wrapped gift” and “reminiscent of holiday ribbons and the green rolling hills where coffee is grown,” with its alternating bands of red, green and pink.
Siren Chorus
The Siren Chorus cup draws inspiration from the patterns made from “raking coffee beans in the sun” as well as the “flowing lines” of the Starbucks siren.
Holiday Cold Cup
On this year’s Holiday Cold Cup, Starbucks says “festive charms” add a “touch of cheer” to the holiday season’s cool and icy beverages.
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