Generally speaking, Wrecking Ball’s design aesthetic tilts unapologetically feminine. Partly because so much in coffee tilts so masculine, but mostly because it’s what makes us collectively happy.

The concept was fantastic creatures, on an imaginary journey, but carrying coffee gear. We drew inspiration from Hillary’s prior work (like “Far Away”), as well as from “Where The Wild Things Are” and fantasy books (like Lord of the Rings).

As we developed the concept, Trish had the idea of having Kyonghee Shin, who roasts alongside Trish and who’s been beyond precious to us, lead the parade of characters. Kyonghee (@beanwife) adores Golden Retrievers (and hopes to adopt one soon), always wears an apron when doing coffee work, and usually has about an inch of heel on her shoes. So we’re calling this design, “@Beanwife Dream.”

We hope work-a-day roasters will note that the flame is pure blue!

We’re screen-printing these two different ways, across the chest for unisex cut styles and around the middle for our ladies-cut shirts, to provide an alternative to the “stare at my t-shirt means stare at my boobs” thing, which was the consensus within our female-dominated staff.