Grace’s Macarons + Takayama Coffee Roasters

Custom Sticker Design

My friend, Grace, reached out to me wanting a custom illustrated sticker that combined her small business, Grace’s Macarons, with her husband Yuji’s business, Takayama Coffee Roasters. They are the dynamic duo behind one of the local favorites from the farmer’s markets. They share a market booth where Grace sells her colorful and delicious French macarons (Practically has a cult following locally. They’re that good!), along with perfectly flaky croissants and soft madeleines. Yuji offers perfectly roasted coffee beans and brews some of the best pour over coffee around.

My job was to blend their distinct brand aesthetics into a single, charming sticker design that could promote both businesses and delight their customers. The final illustration was delivered as a print ready asset with full reproduction rights, and is now sold at their booth for their loyal and very enthusiastic customers!

Project Objectives:

The key objectives for the sticker design included:

Create a whimsical, cohesive sticker design that represented both Grace’s and Yuji’s businesses.
Appeal to their devoted farmer’s market audience.
Reflect their products while keeping the tone light and fun.
Deliver a file ready for professional printing and resale.

Approach

I began work by evaluating the heart of both brands; what they offer, how they present themselves, and what their customers love most. Grace’s macarons are known for their pastel colors and soft joyful vibe. Yuji’s brand has a minimalist, earthy feel focused on craftmanship and quality.

To merge these worlds, I illustrated a joyful character group collection of a coffee cup, madeleine, croissant, and a crowd of different flavors of macarons all surrounded by a spray of coffee beans. I pulled the macarons’ colors directly from their most popular flavors. The linework is clean and expressive, with their respective business names written at the bottom of the illustration.

During development, I experimented with color and composition. Through iteration and client feedback, the illustration was pared down and simplified with the addition of the business names to increase legibility and brand alignment.

Challenges

Balancing two distinct visual identities into one unified piece
Ensuring the sticker maintained a level of simplicity appropriate for small format printing while still capturing detailed brand personality

Results

Grace and Yuji now sell the sticker alongside their baked goods and coffee beans as a branded item.
The design continues to serve as a joyful representation of their shared booth and partnership.

“Working with Jai was an incredible experience from start to finish. She immediately understood what I wanted—as if she could read my mind—and brought it to life with such talent. The little faces on the products and the thoughtful touch of including people’s favorite macarons were just lovely additions on her part.”
– Grace, Grace’s Macarons

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