Designer Showcase: Laura Spaeth, Tell Designs
Featuring the packages for Steamworks Coffee Roasters, Turbo Joe, and Iris Coffee Company.
Who: Laura Spaeth, Tell Designs
Role: Owner/Designer
Where: Wausau, WI
Connect: @tell_designs on Instagram • http://telldesigns.com/
What they order: Hot coffee, or the occasional latte or iced coffee.
Favorite Ninja Turtle: Donatello
R!WC: Laura, thanks for chatting with Roast! West Coast. I'm excited to learn more about your design work, but first, I'd like to ask about you! Who are you?! Where are you from? What are some essential things about you?
Laura: I am a 41 year old wife and mother of two. Lover of good movies, even better books, a good glass of wine, and a cozy sweatshirt. I am a solver by nature. Addicted to escape rooms, jigsaw puzzles and legos. Born and raised in the Midwest I have lived most of my life wandering around Wisconsin.
R!WC: How long have you been working in design, and how did you move into packaging design?
Laura: I have been a graphic artist working in the industry since I graduated college in 2004 with my graphic communications degree. I have spent time in a lot of areas of print design, and have a fondness for prepress. In 2013 when my husband and I relocated to Wausau, I got a job at Roastar in their prepress department which put me on the trajectory I am on now!
R!WC: You have worked with an absolute ton of coffee companies to design bags and develop brand imagery. How did you get into designing for the coffee industry?
Laura: It really fell into my lap! I started doing some projects on a freelance basis while working in prepress at Roastar. They don’t have in-house design so it worked out well. In 2018 when my son was born, I decided to hang up my prepress hat and stay home [to give] Tell Designs a real shot. I had always had side hustle with freelance, but it quickly became my full time gig, largely thanks to my close relationship with Roastar. I also feel like my industry experience in the production side of things gives me a better understanding of the of how different materials and structures can impact design.
R!WC: I noticed that you don't fall back onto one design style. How do you keep things fresh (I hate that word) when you've been in the design game for a minute?
Laura: Are you saying I’m old? Ha! No two companies are alike, and trends are always changing. A lot of companies come to me with a vision already in their minds, I just have to turn it into reality! I also have a vault of ideas–bags I would love to design—and when the right project comes along that feels like a good fit, I go for it! Not everything needs to be new and innovative, its more important that it WORKS for the brand and what they are trying to say with their packaging.
LAURA’S FAVS
R!WC: What makes for a good designer/client or designer/artist collaboration?
Laura: I think it’s really important to trust the opinion and instincts of the professionals you hire. The client is the subject matter expert on coffee and I am the subject matter expert when it comes to design. Same with the artist who collaborate with me. It’s my job to deliver what they want in the best way possible. Communication and trust are incredibly important to that process.
R!WC: What is your strategy/philosophy when brainstorming the design concept for a new coffee bag or tin? What are the challenges? What is the fun part?
Laura: I wish I could say that its this organized and linear process but it really isn’t. I’m thinking about your project in the car, the shower, sometimes in my sleep. Sometimes I can see the concept immediately, sometimes I need to seek out inspirations. The most challenging part is getting what is inside my head out on paper. The fun part is when me and the client are both on board for something creative and they trust my choices, and then getting to see it come to life. Something tangible that I can hold in my hand, or see on a store shelf. That’s still such a surreal thing to me.
R!WC: Where did the name Tell Designs to come from? How hard is it to brand and design for yourself?
Laura: Tell is my maiden last name. I’ve been using Tell Designs as my freelance name since I got out of college. Designing for myself is the worst. Most designers will probably tell you that.
R!WC: You mentioned in an e-mail you have some celebrity clients. I'm intrigued. Anything you can share?
Laura: I’ve gotten to work with some amazing clients, I really am blessed to have had some of the opportunities I have had. I do some work for Acey Slade from the Misfits and Murder Dolls. He owns Catfight Coffee. I did a ton of work perviously with Laughing Man Coffee (Hugh Jackman). I even got to get in on the Laughing Man / Aviation Gin feud with a little photoshop fun. I recently got to help Darren Brass from [TV show] Miami Ink turn his artwork into a line of coffee bags.
R!WC: What is something that you've learned about running the business that has surprised you or you've had to learn the hard way?
Laura: I’ve learned to listen to my instincts. Trust my gut and don’t ignore red flags in clients. I’ve been lucky to get to work with some amazing clients. However I have had my fair share of nightmare ones. I think that’s common in any industry, and you start to learn how to better protect your business and integrity, by learning from those mistakes and learning to say “No” every once in a while.
R!WC: You're located in Central WI, but you've worked with coffee clients from all over. How do you absorb a brand's style or identity if you can't physically visit them?
Laura: I rely a lot on the client to help put me in their coffee shop, in their town, or in their head! Vision boards, mood boards, pictures, and talking to the client really help me visualize the brand. And a lot of the brands I work with are e-commerce and don’t have a brick and mortar, so there is no place to actually visit–which makes that common visual between us really important.
R!WC: What questions do you ask a new client when brainstorming a new design concept?
Laura: I ask if they have any absolute dislikes. I think that’s important, something I have learned to ask along the way. Some clients don’t have a specific vision, and some have an absolute aversion to a certain color or font style. Most importantly I ask for visual references to go along with words that can be subjective like “vintage” or “clean and sophisticated”. Those words might give them a different visual than they give me so backing it up with images is the best way for me to see what they see when they ask for a specific style or aesthetic.
R!WC: Is there anything else we didn't cover that listeners should know about you and Tell Designs?
Laura: Sure! If it prints, I can design it. I do a lot of packaging in the coffee industry, but I also do a lot of packaging in other industries, as well as branding, marketing materials and even magazines or catalogs. I also get a little excited talking about the printing process, which probably comes across a bit weird but I find it fascinating.
R!WC: Was there ever a chance you weren't going to be a graphic designer? If so, what do you think you would be doing instead?
Laura: Yes! I actually changed my mind a few times. When I was a kid, I was set on being a photographer for National Geographic, and still hold a pretty extensive collection of the magazine. When I first went to school I went to learn special effects for movies. Then I decided I wanted to be an author and started studying English Theory and politics in cinema. Who knows, maybe one day I will still write that book!
R!WC: Do you drink coffee?
Laura: Shhhh! Don’t tell anyone, but not really! LOL, okay, the cats out of the bag. I DO enjoy coffee but not on a daily basis. I get a bit squirrelly from caffeine, but nothing beats a hot cup of coffee in the morning when we are camping. I do love the coffee. It just doesn’t always love me back.
I always make my own if its hot coffee, but sometimes I go get the occasional latte or iced coffee.
R!WC: Are there any favoritecoffee shops you'd like to shout out: My local shop, Clean Slate. Amazing coffee and amazing people.
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