We knew when releasing our latest Fruit Punch seasonal blend, that it's a little different to your everyday coffee blend, it catches you off guard, takes your taste buds for a ride, and most importantly pushes boundaries in terms of what coffee can be.
Taking all of this into account we knew we hand to do something different with the packaging, for this we enlisted the help of UK turned Kiwi artist, Simon Ormerod, otherwise known as Cracked Ink. Take it away!
Talk us through your beginnings?
I was Born in the UK, about 30 minutes out of Manchester, and when I left school I decided I wanted to go to Art School. After studying I studied in some foundation courses, I went onto studying a Degree in Graphic Design, but it wasn't until my second year, I met a guy who was into graffiti – we connected straight away, hung out heaps and that's what inspired me to started painting. That was 20 years ago now, and ever since it's been my primary focus of creativity.
It's fair to say your artwork has a particular style, what's inspired you to lead down this path?
Yeah for sure! My style has been a development of lots and lots of sketching that continues to evolve. When I first started, I'd see other artists creating these street characters – guys like Alexone and The London Police, Mode 2 – they had to be some of my biggest inspirations from the beginning, but as you start to do your thing, you start to develop your characters, and they change, almost like a family evolution. I always have that end goal – which for me is painting them on the street, as time's past I've been lucky enough to work on some amazing projects across the world, and align with some great brands.
What was your process for creating the Fruit Punch artwork?
The process for me starts with the brief, which was pretty open on this project. I quite often will do some research on the places of origin for a product, looking at people from that area, how they walk, look at their expressions and then I try not to think too much, and just be in that moment of creativity. My best work is just allowing the design to flow naturally, after many years of doing this, it's something that just naturally happens for me. It's almost meditative.
What was one of your most memorable pieces to date?
Ooh, hard question. So many good memories, but the way to interpret the most memorable is the most recent. I try not to live in the past too much – I always believe my best work is my latest work, so I'd say my latest wall for Garage Project in Wellington, in saying that one of my most memorable projects was in Churchill, Canada, about 150 miles from Antarctica, such a crazy place to paint were the polar bears outweigh the amount of residents.
What's a typical day like for you? Do you have a studio you base yourself out of?
Typical day for me when I'm not on the road, I make a coffee, sit by the fire and enjoy an hour to myself, and then usually working on projects coming up. I do have a studio, and try to work on my studio pieces in between all the prep for the murals. To be honest I'm always busy doing something with my art, a normal year for me is spending 6-8 months on the road. I'm in a fortunate position that there's always something happening, and so many ways to diversify my work into different avenues.
Considering we're all about coffee, what's your go-to way to drink coffee?
In an ideal world I would love a really nice espresso machine, but I don't, so normally I'm on a plunger or a stove top – they still hit the mar, and you still get the deep, rich and fruity flavours.
What's next for Cracked Art?
Next for Cracked Ink is continually pushing my style into new and interesting directions. I have a bunch of murals in the pipeline and collaborations coming up. I would also really like to do another solo show in 2021. So much to do! The future is extremely bright, but as it stands i'll be working in the 'now'.