Local 'Jazz' cup artist, reporter featured nationally

More than two decades after Aurora resident Gina Ekiss designed the “Jazz” cup for her then-employer Sweetheart Cup Co. in Springfield, the design has become something of a cult hit, and now a local reporter’s story about Ekiss and the phenomenon has attracted national attention.  

Springfield News-Leader reporter Thomas Gounley gets credit for tracking down Ekiss in the ABC report that examines how the nostalgic '90s design has been adopted to a host of merchandising mediums, including T-shirts, sneakers, bicycle helmets and nail art.

Ekiss was interviewed by ABC for “Good Morning America,” and talked about the jazzy design's origins, as well as all the recent pop-culture interest. Gounley sought the designer after discovering a reddit page dedicated to finding the person responsible for creating the design that was featured on millions of paper cups in the '90s.

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