This pop-up installation is bringing art to life

Check out Nescafé’s Azera By Design Gallery and see how the coffee brand is working with up-and-coming artists

Well-known for its top-of-the-range products, Nescafé Azera doesn’t just produce great coffee. Each year the company partners with the University of Creative Arts to promote up-and-coming artists with a competition to create unique packaging design.

Providing a valuable platform for emerging designers, the contest invites a talented cohort of artists from the university to create striking designs for limited edition Nescafé Azera tins that will appear in shops across the country. This month, nine new designs hit retailers’ shelves, all based on 2018’s theme of Unexpected Urban Adventures.

To celebrate the fourth year of the partnership, this month sees the introduction of Nescafé’s Azera By Design Gallery. This immersive experience arrives at The Old Truman Brewery in Shoreditch from 20-21 October and will see three of this year’s designs brought to life on a huge scale. Resident mixologists will also be on hand to create signature espresso martinis made with Nescafé Azera, which coffee-loving guests can sample for free as they explore the unique design space.

The pop-up event has been specially curated with coffee and design enthusiasts in mind – but is also perfect for those who want to share some unique photographs on their Instagram feed. With free entry for anyone aged 18 plus, the gallery features three areas, each based on one of the winning entries.

The students were given a brief to develop designs based on their own experiences and urban adventures. They were challenged to capture those moments where you break from the norm to look up, look around and look closer. Each design breaks down the expectations of the artist’s surroundings and explores shapes and textures in the overlooked spaces we take for granted every day.

Inspired by street art, the unusual colours and shapes of Colourful Path provide a fun and dynamic room for guests to explore; Umbrellas serves to remind visitors that great things can happen even on a rainy day in the city; and the dazzling Spotlights is inspired by a visit to a Soho nightclub.

Nescafé’s Azera By Design Gallery will be open from noon until 9.30pm on Saturday 20 October and from 11am until 8.30pm on Sunday 21 October.

Find out more at @nescafeazera on Instagram, and look out for limited edition tins of Nescafé Azera available in shops now