Watermark’s Daron Parton (who should only be approached after a strong macchiato) worked with Auckland agency Degree Design to develop a range of illustrations to commemorate Fuel Espresso’s 20th birthday. 

Founder Sonjay Ponnapa, who humbly served his very first coffee from a retro style coffee cart in Wellington twenty years ago, now boasts four locations in Wellington, five in Hong Kong and one in Shanghai. 

“My brief was to illustrate that very first coffee cart in a New Yorker magazine style,” recalls Daron. “I needed to show Fuel’s clientele as professional, busy and sophisticated and to make use of the brand’s rustic colour palette.”

Emerging from the brief was the very dapper coffee connoisseur Mr Brown, in all his wonderful shades of coffee hues. Working within the confines of a limited palette can sometimes be challenging. Daron, however, clearly used the earthy tones to great effect, highlighting the brand’s quality and luxury cues.

The images went down with a splash at Fuel Coffee – so much so that Daron has now been commissioned to illustrate a range of coffee equipment collateral and a character campaign.