Dennis Marsh, a manager for the company, said that the design agencies did not understand the specifics of the company's printing process, and that their designs were too complicated to use.

Sweetheart became disappointed with the new designs submitted by external agencies. During the late 1980s, Sweetheart planned to replace its disposable cup design, 'Preference,' which featured a gray base with a thin red line that formed two leaves. She was one of approximately 32 artists working for Sweetheart's art department, based in Springfield, Missouri. Gina Ekiss (then known as Gina Boyd-Burgess) began working at Sweetheart Cup Company in 1987, after graduating from Missouri State University. According to Skala, 'At this time, our best assumption is that a former employee named Gina created the design, but we are unable to confirm whether this is accurate or not.' Gina Ekiss However, Skala stated that most of the people who worked on the Jazz project were no longer with Solo following its acquisition of Sweetheart Cup Company.

Kasey Skala, spokesperson for Solo Cup Company, subsequently said that the company did some internal research on the creator of Jazz. Some reports credited Ekiss as the creator but this has not been confirmed by Solo Cup Company. During the same year, Stephanie Miller claimed on Reddit to be the true creator of the Jazz design. The popularity of the design led to a Reddit inquiry that year as to who created the design, ultimately revealing Gina Ekiss as the designer. Until 2015, the identity of Jazz's designer had remained largely unknown. The Jazz design consists of a broad, jagged, crayon-like brushstroke of teal coloring, topped by a finer zig-zagged brushstroke of purple coloring.

90 paper cup design