RITZENHOFF · Coffee Love · Product Illustration · Surface Design
RITZENHOFF Coffee Love — Cappuccino Cups Illustrated by Ian David Marsden
As part of my long-running collaboration with RITZENHOFF, I created a pair of illustrated designs for the company’s Coffee Love cappuccino cup and saucer collection, combining character illustration, typography and product-focused surface design.
The project translated a small piece of coffee culture into a manufactured object: two illustrated coffee personalities, bold graphic treatment and the phrase “Strong Coffee” applied directly to the cups.
A product-design project within the RITZENHOFF collection
RITZENHOFF is a German manufacturer known for collaborating with illustrators and designers on decorative glassware and homeware.
My collaboration with the company extended across several years and a number of product categories. The Coffee Love cups form one specific part of that larger body of work.
Coffee culture turned into character illustration
The designs use two stylised coffee enthusiasts — one male and one female — as the central visual idea.
Rather than treating the cup as a neutral surface for decoration, the illustration was developed around the object itself and the ritual associated with it: strong coffee, personality, humour and the recognisable mood of a cappuccino break.
The characters are graphic enough to read immediately on a curved ceramic surface while still retaining the expressive line and personality of my illustration work.
Illustration designed for a three-dimensional object
Designing artwork for a cup is different from composing an illustration for a flat page.
The image wraps around a curved surface, is seen from different angles and has to remain legible when the object is held in the hand or placed on a table.
That changes decisions about scale, silhouette, spacing, contrast and the relationship between illustration and lettering.
The final artwork therefore had to work simultaneously as an illustration and as surface graphics for a manufactured product.
Character, lettering & product graphics
The words “Strong Coffee” are not separate from the illustration. They form part of the visual rhythm of the design.
That combination of character and lettering gives the cups a stronger graphic identity than either element would have on its own.
This approach is useful whenever an illustration has to live on packaging, tableware, textiles or another physical product where image and typography need to function as one composition.
From illustration file to manufactured object
One of the rewarding aspects of product illustration is seeing artwork leave the screen or drawing surface and become a physical object.
For RITZENHOFF, the designs were created for production rather than as speculative concepts: the artwork became part of the finished Coffee Love cappuccino cups and saucers.
That requires a production mindset as well as an illustrative one — understanding how artwork will be reproduced, scaled, positioned and experienced once it becomes part of the product.
Part of a longer RITZENHOFF collaboration
The Coffee Love series was one chapter in my broader collaboration with RITZENHOFF from 2013 to 2018.
Across that period, I created original designs for different products within the company’s Designer Collection, including glassware, ceramics and collectible objects.
The individual projects vary considerably in subject and visual language, but they share the same central challenge: developing artwork that works not only as an image, but as part of an object people actually use, hold or collect.
Illustration for products, packaging & branded objects
The same design thinking applies to many kinds of physical products.
Depending on the brief, illustration can be developed for:
- glassware and ceramics
- packaging
- food and beverage products
- labels
- collectible objects
- promotional merchandise
- gift products
- textiles and apparel
- retail graphics
The important part is to design for the final object rather than simply resize artwork that was created for another purpose.
Disciplines
- Product Illustration
- Surface Design
- Character Illustration
- Graphic Design
- Lettering & Typography Integration
- Packaging & Product Graphics
- Production Artwork
- Creative Direction
Related work
RITZENHOFF — Full Designer Collection →
RITZENHOFF Viking Weizenbier Glass →
Commissioned Illustration & Campaign Visuals →
Need illustration for a product or collection?
If you are developing packaging, tableware, branded products, promotional objects or a collection that needs original illustration, send me a short outline of the product, audience and production format.
