This September, one of our best-loved coffees is getting a temporary new look. For one month only, The Docks will be wrapped in an exclusive label created by North Star barista and illustrator Jesse, better known online as @je55e.jpg.

The coffee inside is exactly the same Docks you know and love. But on the outside, you’ll find a cheerful little fisherman, standing proudly by the water and bringing a little 1930s cartoon joy to your coffee shelf.

From Leeds Dock to the drawing board

The character was inspired by Jesse’s morning walks to Leeds Dock, where people young and old could often be found quietly fishing by the water.

“I always found it really sweet,” Jesse says. “After a few other ideas didn’t go to plan, I thought, why not stick to something simple and push it in ways I knew I could?”

Simple, however, doesn’t mean quickly done. Before the fisherman appeared, Jesse explored a completely different idea featuring a Leeds Water Taxi, a puppet couple and a chubby calico cat once spotted wandering around the Dock. The concept was ambitious, combining puppetry, mixed media and animation influences, but it never quite felt right.

So Jesse returned to what they know and love best: character design, cartoons and the wonderfully wonky world of rubber-hose animation.

“The fisherman sort of just popped into my head,” they explain. “That’s where the piece really started to come together, after what felt like forever trying to get it off the ground.”

A little nostalgia with your morning coffee

The Docks has been part of North Star for more than a decade. It’s familiar, dependable and, for many people, one of their first introductions to speciality coffee. Jesse wanted the new label to reflect that sense of affection and nostalgia while still feeling playful enough to catch you by surprise.

The result draws heavily on the rubber-hose era of 1930s animation: all expressive limbs, loose movement and larger-than-life personality. Jesse grew up watching characters such as Felix the Cat, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and Betty Boop, and those early cartoons continue to shape their work today.

“I wanted a feel-good, goofy little guy,” Jesse says. “I love drawing silly characters and building a small world around them. I want to make people feel a genuine little bit of joy in these hard times.”

That nostalgia isn’t limited to the artwork. The Docks has been part of Jesse’s own coffee journey since they joined North Star nearly five years ago.

“The Docks was a staple when I first started working here, and it’s stuck ever since. I like its simplicity; it’s such an easy introduction to coffee. I always had it in mochas to start with - single shot - and I’ve actually been back on them lately. With the full double shot, because I’ve grown up now.”

Months of work, countless tiny decisions

The finished label feels carefree, but getting there took a couple of months of sketches, research and painstaking adjustments.

Jesse watched old cartoons, dug into an impressive collection of art books and studied early development work from the game Cuphead. Every detail was considered, from the fisherman’s expression and colour palette to the painterly backdrop, which needed to feel warm and loose rather than too polished.

“So many hours were spent reeling over the smallest things,” Jesse says. “Sometimes I had to put the piece down and not look at it for a couple of days, then go back and think, ‘Oh, that’s actually pretty dope.’ Rinse and repeat for months - and I landed on a final design that I’m very, very proud of.”

For Jesse, research became one of the most enjoyable parts of the project: a very good excuse to revisit favourite cartoons and disappear into a style of animation they’ve loved for years. The biggest challenge was learning when to step away, stop comparing and trust the work.

Something that feels completely Jesse

This isn’t the first piece Jesse has created for North Star, but seeing such a personal design on one of our bestselling coffees feels particularly significant.

“To put it bluntly, it’s pretty blooming mental,” they say. “The thought of it being in people’s houses and dotted around Leeds still terrifies me, but in that weird, stomach-churning, ‘oh my gosh’ way.”

More than anything, the label gave Jesse the freedom to make something unmistakably their own - character-led, nostalgic and a little bit rogue.

“Seeing this in rotation, something that is so me, is just wild. I hope everyone loves it as much as I do.”

For us, the label is also a chance to celebrate the creativity that exists within the North Star team. Jesse speaks openly about the uncertainty that can come with making art, and what it has meant to have their work trusted and championed by the people around them.

“Having people put their faith in me and encourage me to pursue something that still makes me so insecure means more than I could put into words. It means a whole lot to start my creative career in such a genuinely caring environment.”

Same coffee. One very cheerful new fisherman.

The limited-edition label lands in early September and will be around for approximately one month. You’ll be able to find it on bags of The Docks through our website, in North Star coffee shops and with selected wholesale partners while stocks last.

Inside, it’s the same much-loved house blend that has been part of North Star for more than ten years. Outside, it’s a small piece of Jesse’s brilliantly wonky world.

You can see more of Jesse’s illustration and character work on Instagram at @je55e.jpg.