How one design changed the face of cups in the 90s.

- August 11, 2025

'Jazz' Cup Design (1992)

What you are seeing here is the pattern of the 90s called 'Wave' created in 1992 by a Gina Ekiss who worked previously at Sweetheart Cup Company.

'Preference' Cup Design

Previously, (the cup to my right) wanted to replace with something cool, fresh and something that will last a lifetime.

This design was called: 'Preference', and it featured a two-leaf design lined in red, with a grey line below, and a grey covered landscape.

This was the design selling back in the 70's and 80's.

Gina - One of an estimated 32 artists, working for the design company at the time; with her having computer background experience, she's able to help transition the design completely digital, by her knowledge of using a printing press, rather than her peers - who had no expertise in that department.

This marked out of her peers, that a design could be printed and the company wanted to go completely digital. So a perfect coincidence came to be.

Gina Ekiss

And since they liked the design so much, the company decided that this would be the design to print for their cups.

And she won the contest.

The way she did it was she looked at her designs back in her College years and decided to remake it; with different materials like charcoal and and printed it to match the grainy texture of the design.

Gina's design used to be called 'Razzi' and after a few wordplays of her own, she decided to call it 'Jazz'.

It depends on who you ask.

Another person who ended up with the same design, her name was Stephanie Miller, who at the time, worked at the competitive company Imperial Bondware. And during her tenure, and in her own words, she said: "“I do know that it came out of my head. The one I did came out first, as far as I can tell. Somehow [Sweetheart] was able to co-opt it. I don’t know how that happened, and I don’t know if it had anything to do with me."

Her design included paint brush and starting painting, and printed the design on the printer. She also had a similar story like Ekiss, where she signed up at a contest and her design won.

Ekiss denied that Miller stole the idea of the design.

These days, there are cultural impacts towards this design, it can be seen on clothing, helmets, shoes, paintings, nails and even on an actual mug.

It can even be seen on Movies and TV Shows such as, 'The Silence of The Lambs', 'The X-Files', 'Cheers' and even in Advertising campaigns.