CREATIVI-Tea’s Campaign
The Campaign:
Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen wanted to launch three limited-time 2022 summer beverages through a campaign that celebrated creativity and invited customers to experience each drink as more than a menu item. The challenge was to develop a visual identity that transformed every beverage into its own creative personality while remaining cohesive across photography, digital, print, and in-store experiences.
The Result:
Creativi-Tea launched across all three Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen locations through a fully integrated campaign spanning retail, digital, and social, giving each seasonal beverage a distinctive identity while reinforcing Hilltop's playful, creativity-driven brand.
My Contributions:
From concept through production, I led the creative direction behind the campaign's visual identity. Working closely with Hilltop's founders and marketing team, I developed the Creativi-Tea concept, shaped the creative profiles for each beverage, directed the photography, and built a complete visual system that extended across digital design, print collateral, environmental graphics, in-store marketing, and social content formatting.
01
Drink Profiles
Working directly with Hilltop's marketing team and founders, I helped define the identity of each Creativi-Tea, from naming the drinks to developing the creative concept behind each one. Every profile was built around its ingredients, translating their flavors and functional benefits into distinct visual identities that connected each beverage to a different state of creativity.
02
Photoshoot
I led the art direction for the campaign photography, establishing a consistent visual foundation that would later evolve into each drink's unique digital world. When the original prop selections did not achieve the intended look, I refined the creative approach on set by simplifying the styling and guiding composition, lighting, and camera framing. Maintaining a consistent perspective across every image ensured a seamless transition into post-production.
03
Design Process
Starting with the original photography, I transformed each composition into a fully realized digital environment. I built custom 3D scenes in Photoshop, developing individual color worlds inspired by each beverage while maintaining a cohesive visual system across all three drinks.
Frame 1
Original photography served as the foundation before digital world building began.
Frame 2
I expanded each composition by building custom 3D environments and color palettes inspired by the natural tones of each drink, creating distinct visual worlds while maintaining consistency across the campaign.
Frame 3
To reinforce the concept of creativity, I designed a custom handwritten illustration system featuring ingredient callouts, motivational phrases, and playful sketches inspired by the feeling of brainstorming in a coffee shop.
Frame 4
The final campaign united photography, digital environments, custom typography, and illustration into a cohesive visual identity for each Creativi-Tea.
04
Campaign Posters
Building on the established visual system, I designed a series of campaign posters that combined photography, illustration, typography, and ingredient storytelling into bold retail assets. The final work was installed across Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen's three Los Angeles locations, bringing the Creativi-Tea campaign into the physical retail experience.
