This Neck Deep album artist designed a Starbucks coffee package
If you’ve recently visited your local Starbucks and thought that one of their latest packages of coffee looks familiar, then that’s because you’re right. Ricardo Cavolo, who the scene knows as the artist behind Neck Deep’s Life’s Not Out To Get You, designed a package for the coffee giant’s Caffè Verona blend.
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Cavolo’s intriguing style is instantly recognizable, which was praised by Neck Deep frontman Ben Barlow and bassist Fil Thorpe-Evans when they sat down with APTV to talk about the meaning of the artwork for their 2015 record. Barlow admired Cavolo’s unique style that was exactly what they were looking for when discussing artwork.
“Our other [EPs and] albums have been quite busy, especially Wishful Thinking was—I loved the Wishful Thinking cover—but it was quite realistic,” Barlow says. “I wanted something a bit more, kind of a hand drawn vibe and slightly more abstract and just something a bit more going on. Not just it is what it is, something that’s open for interpretation that we could use for merch and things like that.”
Neck Deep and Starbucks aren’t the only collaborations on Cavolo’s resume. The artist also worked with Canadian DJ Kaytranada on his 99.9% album and Jose Cuervo tequila to design a series of bottles.
Cavolo has produced artwork for clothing sold by Zara, New Regime and Bally as well as scarves for Alexander McQueen.
Starbucks is his most recent collab, however, and the artist recently shared his experience on his Instagram.
“I was in Seattle, visiting the [Starbucks] basecamp and had so much fun learning about the usage of the [fire] for roasting the beans,” he says. “It’s like the alchemy of coffee. Excited to reveal the art I made for the limited edition #CoffeeStories available in stores now. Thanks for the amazing experience! And for all that coffee!”
Starbucks’ Coffee Stories is a series in which four artists learn about how coffee goes from the farm to our cups. Starbucks then asks them to create art based on their experience. The coffee company chose Cavolo to illustrate the roasting process given his theme of fire used in much of his work.
“This lifelong devotion to coffee and the fact that fire is a consistent theme in his work made Ricardo a perfect fit for illustrating the roasting chapter of our Coffee Stories series,” the company says. “So we invited the artist to visit our Seattle headquarters to experience the roasting process firsthand.”
Cavolo used his new knowledge when creating his work inspired by the process.
“Once I understood how fundamental roasting is in the coffee process and to its final result, I decided to do something similar when creating the colors to paint with,” he says. “I carefully mixed colors until I found the one I was looking for, in the same way that at Starbucks they experiment with roasting until they reach the flavor and aroma they desire.”
Tristan Eaton tackled the origin chapter of the series prior to Cavolo, and two unnamed artists will be taking on coffee blending and connection in the weeks to come. You can check out Cavolo’s latest artwork below as well as Neck Deep’s fall tour schedule in support of 2017’s The Peace And The Panic.
Neck Deep dates:
09/06 – Santa Cruz, CA @ Catalyst^
09/07 – Ventura, CA @ Ventura Theater^
09/08 – Las Vegas, NV @ BK Bowl^
09/10 – Albuquerque, NM @ El Rey Theatre^
09/11 – Lubbock, TX @ Jakes^
09/12 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom^
09/14 – Louisville, KY @ Headliners^
09/15 – Nashville, TN @ Marathon^
09/16 – Birmingham, AL @ Workplay^
09/18 – Columbia, SC @ Music Farm^
09/19 – Greensboro, NC @ Arizona Pete’s ^
09/20 – Richmond, VA @ National^
09/21 – Long Island, NY @ Stereo Garden^
09/22 – Sayreville, NJ @ Starland^
09/24 – New Haven, CT @ Webster^
09/25 – Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom^
09/27 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Smalls^
09/28 – Detroit, MI @ Royal Oak^
09/29 – Cleveland, OH @ Agora^
09/30 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth^
10/02 – Cincinnati, OH @ Bogarts^
10/03 – Ft. Wayne, IN @ Clyde^
10/05 – Milwaukee, WI @ Eagles Club^
10/06 – Des Moines, IA @ Woolys*
10/07 – Omaha, NE @ Sokol*
10/09 – Boulder, CO @ Boulder Theater *
10/10 – Grand Junction, CO @ Mesa Theater*
10/12 – San Luis Obispo, CA @ Fremont*
10/13 – San Diego, CA @ SOMA *
^ dates with Trophy Eyes, * dates with Gardenside
