UNL student designs Tazza stickers, explores new mediums | News

In a market with no shortage of coffee shops, many brands have struggled to find ways to stand out. Starbucks leaves notes on each cup, Reactor offers new drinks called “experiments” each week and Tazza gives out stickers.

Tazza Coffee is the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s campus coffee shop. There are four city campus locations: Knoll Residential Center, Kiewit Hall, Scott Engineering Center and the University Health Center.

Tyler Hays, Tazza team lead and senior graphic design major, creates stickers for Tazza’s “drink of the month” program. When customers order the drink of the month, they receive a free sticker related to the time of year or flavor of the drink.

“I was kind of inspired by places like Dutch Bros Coffee, and just being a college student and knowing that I love stickers,” Hays said. “Why not have Tazza stickers? So, that’s kind of been tied into something promotional that we can build upon to drive business and get more people excited about Tazza.”

Hays said his idea to create promotional stickers didn’t come to fruition until UNL hired Paige Knebel, chef de cuisine for culinary development, who “spearheaded” the project.

According to Knebel, Hays pitched the idea of creating stickers to go along with each drink of the month to promote their specialty drinks. Tazza also encourages students to buy reusable Tazza tumblers and decorate them with stickers.

“We wanted to give him full ability to really run with it and show his creativity through the sticker process,” Knebel said. “It’s fun to see what he comes up with every month.”

Outside of studying graphic design, Hays said he worked as a tattoo artist for 10 years.

Byron Anway, assistant professor of practice in the School of Art, Art History and Design said Hays’s work as a tattoo artist prepared him to be successful in graphic design. While tattoo artists focus on manifesting their clients’ ideas, Anway’s beginner-level class focuses on students choosing their artistic direction.

“Tyler didn’t know it, but he had been waiting for this class his whole life because he’s got all these skills as a tattoo artist for designing imagery, and he’s been using them in service for other people,” Anway said. “This class was a chance for him to do it for himself, and he really thrived. We found out that his history as a tattoo artist, that he was sort of moving away from, was actually a superpower.”

Hays said that his shift to focusing on graphic design and his time spent creating stickers for Tazza has allowed him to explore new mindsets and think about the positive impact his creations have on others. 

“It’s kind of surreal,” Hays said. “Seeing my tattoos out in the real world is really cool, but that’s only one person. Being able to walk around campus and see Tazza stickers on multiple peoples’ laptops and water bottles is crazy to me. It’s like, I drew it on my iPad and now it’s a real, tangible thing that people have. It blows my mind.”

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