If you’ve frequented a Single O supplied café or ordered online over the past ten years, you might have noticed the graphic and ever-changing 1kg coffee bags. Fondly known as ‘Random Acts of Art’, the bags have played ‘canvas’ to over 20 rotating artists to date, who strut their creative stuff. 

Inspired by the link between these artists and our rockstar café network, we’ve decided it’s about time to give Random Acts of Art a slightly less random update…

But first, what is Random Acts of Art we hear you ask…?

Well, who remembers the café days of the eighties, nineties and early naughties? Cappuccinos so fluffy, the whipped-up froth could fly off in a slight breeze. Twice-burnt black coffee, first over-roasted, then further tortured through the soaring, unstable temperatures of espresso machines. And then there were the obligatory outdoor umbrellas and barricades (many of them still living today), shiny tins and coffee bags, all sporting BIG logos. Every single one of them.

When we started roasting in 2003, to disrupt the norm, we shunned the umbrellas and barricades. And we put our coffee in blank bags. Being the antithesis of a formulaic corporate design was not only fun, but represented the change in coffee sourcing, roasting and brewing that we, like other third wave specialty roasters, we're trying to make.

With the help of some Surry Hills locals (respected agencies Maud, The Monkeys, and M35), the blank bags gave way to something more dynamic and creative to share with our café customers – The Random Acts of Art Project. For over 10 years, these rotating artists have made café shelves and home kitchens come alive!

Our most recent artist, the talented and funny Gem Coote, with her mischievous ‘Filter Ghosts’, came through our café client and mates Rising Sun Workshop. And this was the pattern that we had seen forming many a time with Random Acts of Art. 

So, this gave us an idea. Why not really celebrate the creativity from within our cafes? And why not challenge corporate design even further? 

Introducing the Art Bag Project, where all of our bags will be art bags, always, purposefully sourcing artists through our café community, using the back of the bag to tell their personal story (and regular coffee order). .

Kicking off the new Art Bag project next week is a legendary punk-rock inspired artist who’s been a regular for over ten years at The Top Shop in Byron Bay. We aren’t showing you that just yet though, so stay tuned.