Live Illustration and Lettering for Coffee Branding Video Campaign
Image of live lettering process in the video ad campaign for a coffee company. Jennifer Hines, freelance lettering artist, went on-site to draw live and have the process captured for video content for marketing purposes.
The Brief: To compose lettering illustrations showing the coffee journey process for creating a perfect cup and the brand values for Smokin’ Bean Coffee for video capture for a coffee marketing campaign.
Role: Illustrator responsible for illustration and lettering both on-site live for the video and for all preparatory drawings. Creative direction and video managed by Jonty Egginton of The Video Creators.
Tools Used: Procreate app, iPad Pro, Photoshop, Apple pencil for sketches. Paper, pencil, and Caren d’Ache wax pastels for live drawing.
In the autumn of 2021, The Video Creators reached out to me to create some live drawings that they could video to use in an upcoming ad campaign for the brand Smokin’ Bean, a sub-brand of parent Tchibo Coffee. To prepare, I learned all about the Smokin’ Bean brand and coffee journey of the beans from plant to brewed cup. I created initial sketches to determine the best direction for the illustrations, and the client chose a style and format that would work best. We decided on a horizontal format to suit the video aspect ratio, a brown paper and black drawing utensils to match the Smokin’ Bean branding, and split the story into three individual illustrations. After testing materials, I selected the Caren d’Ache waxpastels for the drawing because they didn’t smudge and created a thick black line, as well as gave a pebbly rough texture to match the brand style that Smokin’ Bean utilizes.
The filming took place in Brighton, UK in November 2021, where the video table and paper was set up and I drew on camera for a day, completing 3 individual illustrations live over a lightly sketched guide (no erasing!). After the shoot, The Video Creators created a wonderful video combining the live footage of me illustrating on-site, and with some branded imagery overlaid and a voice over telling the brand story. Unfortunately due to restructuring and shifting goals at the company, this campaign was never launched. Thanks to Jonty Egginton and The Video Creators for the commission, and to the team at Smokin’ Bean—it was a pleasure to work on this project.
A still from the coffee live-lettering marketing video shoot of me at work illustrating the brand illustration, pencil in hand.
A few of the early sketches of the coffee journey of the Smokin’ Bean brand, deciding on format and color. The final illustrations ended up telling a more detailed story.
Second sketch version for the live lettering campaign, incorporating more of the Smokin’ Bean brand story and coffee journey, all combined into one drawing. In the end, we decided to split the illustration into three more detailed drawings.
The final approved sketches including the coffee journey, brand story, and brand message for Smokin’ Bean Coffee. These final compositions were the guides for my live lettering and drawing session that was captured on video live. While some modifications were done on the fly during the live drawing session, this was the final content included in the lettering illustrations.
A screen capture from the video showing the first of the lettering illustrations with drawing in-progress by me. This illustration shows the coffee journey origins for the Smokin’ Bean brand.
A screen capture from the video showing the second illustration for the live illustration video capture for Smokin’ Bean Coffee by The Video Creators. This illustration shows the different steps of the coffee bean process from plant to cup, and shows the illustrating by Jennifer Hines in-progress.
A screen capture from the video of the last illustration showing the Smokin’ Bean brand values and taglines, being illustrated by lettering artist Jennifer Hines.
Set of four stills from the video created by The Video Creators for Smokin’ Bean Coffee, featuring Jennifer Hines, lettering artist and illustrator, working on illustrations of coffee branding and lettering for an ad campaign.
A detail of the video table setup and final illustrations for the second image in the ad campaign showing the journey of a coffee bean from start to finish for the Smokin’ Bean Coffee marketing campaign video with live illustration by Jennifer Hines.
Another detail of the video table setup for the live illustration video shoot with the third final illustrated drawing. Jennifer Hines, lettering artist, was sitting in that chair all day creating illustrations live for the camera!
The final three illustrations created live by Jennifer Hines for the video shoot, drawn on-site on camera. The first shows the Smokin’ Bean Coffee brand and origin story, the second the coffee bean journey from farm to cup, and the third shows the brand values.
Are you interested in having me create some fun or tasty illustrations for your book, brand, or product? If you’d like a custom illustration, please go to my Process page to see about getting a custom quote.