Starbucks employee gives away creative ‘cup art’ to lucky customers

Featured on metro.co.uk

A creative Starbucks employee has come up with a unique take on the coffee chain’s ‘name on a cup’ policy – by giving away customised art to a few lucky customers.

Talented barista Gabriel Nkweti Lafitte, 41, spends his spare time creating intricate line drawings on Starbucks’ disposable paper cups for people he has served.

The French artist’s work is on display inside the Starbucks opposite the British Museum in central London and has attracted visitors who have heard about the fabulous designs.

He gets daily requests from fans who come to the coffee shop with their names scribbled on a piece of paper hoping he will create a cup just for them.

‘I love seeing people’s reaction to my drawings,’ he explained. ‘I enjoy the joy and surprise on their faces.’

The gifted sketcher says he creates the art for ‘special individuals who exhibit some small kindness’ when they come in-store.     

Lafitte creates all of his cup art at home, some of which take 40 hours to complete, before arranging a day for individuals to come back to the store and collect their personalised cup.

Simon Redfern, Director of Communications at Starbucks, told Metro: ‘Gabriel’s a very talented artist and it’s fantastic how he takes our iconic cup design and makes it his own.

‘We love his work and we know our customers love it too.

’Lafitte said he would be ‘delighted’ if his designs were to become permanent, as part of a ceramic range.

Click here to see more pictures of his creative cups.