Starbucks 28th Annual
Hot Java Cool Jazz
Hot Java Cool Jazz is a Starbucks sponsored legacy hometown program, and 2025 will mark the 28th year of live performances by 5 high school jazz bands in Washington State.
This concert honors the amazing talent of young musicians, their dedication to developing their craft and their passion for continuing Seattle’s storied jazz culture. The longevity of this event also showcases Starbucks long-term commitment to supporting arts education for our youth.
Five high school jazz bands are blind selected by a committee of Starbucks partners, Seattle Theatre Group, local jazz musicians and Kennelly Keys to perform on the historic Paramount Theatre stage.
Past creative
2024 Show Music Stands, Stage Slides and Main Art.
Concepts
Starting out, I knew I wanted to incorporate styles that were popular and often synonymous with jazz album art, but also wanting to push away from any design that felt safe, expected or even just generic.
I became energized by the idea - how do you visually represent sound waves or vibrations? I played with using silhouette’s as abstract shapes that felt like organic sound waves, which then started to evolve into using more recognizable shapes for the instruments.
I also loved the idea of using bright colors, paired with heavy blocky type, to convey the power of music, playful energy and vibrancy these musicians have for these performances.
A Collective Melody
Every instrument tells its own story, but it’s in their interplay that the true magic happens.
The bold, colorful illustrations highlight this harmony, showing how a single note, a single musician, becomes part of a greater rhythm. It’s a vivid tribute to the collaborative sprit that makes every performance unforgettable.
-Hannah Yeiser, Senior Copywriter
Final Art
For the final art, I chose to feature 4 instruments and to spotlight them individually
within their own box, but when combined together, they complete a larger unifying
musical piece of art.
Title Treatment
I utilized one of Starbucks main core typefaces, “Sodo Sans, Bold” and beefed it up quite a bit to have a overly blocky, almost inflated look to the letterforms. I chose to keep the kerning and leading very tight so that it becomes a graphic element on its own. The color palette uses 4 varying shades of blue, one shade for every word, mimicking a crescendo or decrescendo movement in music.
Final Print Deliverables
Music Stands & Bass Drum Front
These graphics line the fronts of the music stands on stage. The bass drum also gets its own graphic treatment as well.
Hot Java Cool Jazz Branding Toolkit
The purpose of building out a branded toolkit for this project was to be able to coordinate with our Creative Operations team for their assistance in help producing multiple digital banner ads.
The toolkit provided clear guidelines and acted as a reference to follow, making sure everyone is on the same page regarding the layout and design of this event.
Animated Stage Slides
These animated slides appear on stage to introduce the show, (main title Hot Java Cool Jazz logo lock-up slide),
followed by each school name, displayed while the band plays (animated as they assemble on stage, followed by a static hold).
The flicker concept comes from the feeling of a neon sign warming up and being turned on. First the letters all flicker in at different moments like individual notes or instruments being played in a song, then the art comes in and stays static before replaying
the flicker off in reverse.
Main title slide
Roosevelt High School
Garfield High School
Mountlake Terrace High School
Mount Si High School
Bothell High School
This event is March 28th, and I will be adding some images from the actual night of the concert to show how everything came together!