West London Artist Crowned Winner of Nationwide The Starbucks Illustration Club competition

Sep. 21, 2026

Starbucks UK has today announced Manii Basran, a 36-year-old Lettings Manager and Mehndi artist from Ealing, West London, as the winner of The Starbucks Illustration Club. 

The nationwide competition invited the public to turn one of Britain's most recognisable coffee cups into a canvas for creativity, with the winner receiving a once in a lifetime mentorship opportunity, alongside nationwide recognition of their designs. 

Manii's winning entry brought Mehndi, the traditional henna art form she has practised for almost 20 years, onto the Starbucks cup. Inspired by the circular shape of the Starbucks siren logo, she created a mandala motif, a design she regularly uses when adorning brides with henna as part of their pre-wedding rituals, which she will be using as part of her own wedding celebrations this month. 

Manii created the design freehand in a single sitting, using a Mehndi cone with no sketch or plan, on a cup she picked up from the Starbucks coffeehouse opposite her office. Her final design was selected by the judging panel from hundreds of entries submitted from across the UK.

The Starbucks Illustration Club ran from 3 to 21 August 2026 and entries were judged by a panel bringing together British-Nigerian artist and designer Yinka Ilori MBE, Starbucks barista and artist Aaron Gonzales, artist and illustrator Rob Draper, and Paola Tassara Oromí, architect and director of store design, Starbucks EMEA. 

Discussing Manii's winning submission, Yinka Ilori MBE said:

"I really believe in sharing ideas and beliefs globally and worldwide. Design is for everyone, and art is for everyone, and this artwork really celebrates the beauty of art as a global language. Taking henna, which is a very traditional technique, and applying it to a cup, is genius. The symbolism of henna on a cup transforms it into something universal, something everyone can connect with and learn about." 

 

Alongside one-to-one mentorship from Yinka Ilori MBE, Manii's artwork will be brought to life through a nationwide outdoor advertising campaign, appearing on billboard sites Nationwide from 14 September. 

Speaking about her submission, Manii Basran, Starbucks Illustration Club winner, said:

"My first thought was 'cone to cup'. I’ve been a huge Starbucks fan for years, so when I saw the Illustration Club competition announcement, I knew straight away that I wanted to enter. When I looked at the circular Starbucks logo, a mandala felt like the perfect fit. It’s a design I’ve used on brides for years, so it felt like a natural way to bring my two passions together. I didn’t sketch anything out; I work across the road from my local Starbucks, so I popped over, picked up a cup, took it back to the office and just started creating. Growing up in Southall, West London, Mehndi has always been part of the celebrations and traditions around me, for as long as I can remember. It’s an art form with such a rich history, so it feels incredibly special to bring something so meaningful to me into a new, modern and unexpected space.” 

 

Alongside the winning submission, nine runners-up will also receive exclusive Starbucks merchandise and will also see their designs accompany the winning artwork in the nationwide campaign. 

Vic Robertson, marketing director, Starbucks UK, said:

"We were blown away by the standard of entries. Hundreds of people picked up a cup and made it their own, and Manii's design stood out immediately for the skill behind it and the unique story it tells. We developed The Starbucks Illustration Club to give people the opportunity to turn something familiar like a coffee cup into something extraordinary, and we are delighted to have received so many incredible designs. Built on our new Made in Starbucks campaign which launched earlier in the year, the competition celebrates the creativity, conversations and passion projects that happen in our coffeehouses across the UK every day. "