Srivatsa noted that some of the appeal for millennials was not realizing how prevalent the design was until twenty years later. The design has been slapped on water coolers, go-go boots and even Cool Ranch Doritos, and has been transformed into some pretty inexplicable GIFs. Naturally, a YTMND page was created with a looping GIF of the moment, while a live version of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” plays in the background. Someone found a clip of a Nirvana MTV session where Kurt Cobain sips from a jazz cup. The design became a meme, a shorthand for the ‘90s. The creator of the chat surrounding the cup, artist Arjun Srivatsa, explained its origins: In 2011, he brought up the cup to other users, who immediately latched on to the nostalgic element of seeing the cup in their youths. There’s a Facebook and Tumblr page devoted to the design, but the true hub of Solo Jazz is dump.fm, a chat site comprised of images and GIFs instead of text. But the real champions of the design today is the cult following that has sprung up around the cup. It appears that, at least for now, whether it was Ekiss or Miller who came up with the design first will remain unknown. Looks like a fascinating, yet unsolved, Internet mystery!” A spokesperson for the company said, “As of now, our best assumption is that Gina was the original creator however, we aren’t able to confirm. Solo (who was bought by Dart Container in 2012), doesn’t have the records to verify either story. An internal contest that sparked the design, a desire to move away from anything too geometric and linear, a fondness for teal and purple, and an eye for what would be most practical. As the News-Leader article states, “The design was similar to something she had designed in college, Ekiss said, rejecting the idea that she ripped off another cup company’s design.”Įkiss could not be reached for comment, but both women have similar stories. You didn’t have to worry about edges lining up.”Įkiss disputes that the idea came from someone else. The loose nature of the design had another benefit, beyond being trendy: “The whole idea was that it would be easier to be printed, because the design didn’t have to line up at all. She remembers creating the design, also for an internal contest: “Everything was so linear and kind of boring and I just wanted to do something that was a little more fun and loose than what was on cups before.” She went across the street and bought some ink, and started painting, with a paintbrush that to this day “still has teal on it, it won’t go away,” though any original artwork has been lost with time. I don’t know how that happened, and I don’t know if it had anything to do with me.” She speculated that a salesman found her design, and brought it to Sweetheart, who tweaked it just enough to make it their own. The one I did came out first, as far as I can tell. Miller says of the design, “I do know that it came out of my head. A woman named Stephanie Miller, an artist based in Ohio, commented throughout the Reddit thread claiming she was the original designer, that she created the design for a competing company called Imperial Bondware. “It just seems so insane to me,” she is quoted as saying.īut, depending who you ask, the story doesn’t end there. She still has the original charcoal sketches, and is surprised with all the attention it has gotten lately. An internal contest had been held to come up with the design, and Ekiss submitted the jazz design, along with a few others. The Springfield News-Leader sent a reporter out to her house, after some Internet-age sleuthing, and uncovered the answer. Schatz ended his original comment with a plea: “So, I hope you guys can find Gina, because I really like her design, but I also doubt that she understands the emotional impact the cup has on children born in the 80s and raised in the 90s.” There was an online community devoted to the design, people had asked Solo (who purchased the original company that created the design, Sweetheart Cup Company, in 2004) who was behind it, the official response was a woman named Gina from Missouri. One of the top comments, posted by freelance motion graphics artist Douglas Schatz, was a surprising wealth of information. Cheese’s?Ībout a month ago, users on Reddit asked: Who created this design, known as “Solo Jazz”? The splash of teal and purple, across a waxy paper cup - does it remind you of your childhood? Your mom passing you a slice of fruit and a cup of water after a soccer game? A first kiss at an ice skating rink? A sugar-rushed birthday party at Chuck E.
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