what if we
put chilli in it?

Project type
Illustration, Art Direction, Packaging Design

Collaborators
Mhoseenu Design Studio

Year
2019

Sometime in 2019, MDS was approached by Moments Chocolates, a Ghanaian owned artisanal chocolate brand bringing several rather unique twists to the flavour profile of our national treasure. The client wanted packaging that would be as intentionally crafted as the recipes for their product and could appeal to an international market.

Naturally, I was assigned lead on this project. With the help of the team via a fruitful brainstorm session, I was able to tap into the legacy of the existing packaging, a tasteful approach to cultural symbolism and my rather awesome illustration chops to create a set of options that the client enjoyed so much they chose all of them. For the illustrations, I also drew inspiration from a set of linocut style drawings by artist Lubov Chipurko.

The first and most favoured of these options employs a vividly colourful, illustrated pattern that at a glance looks scattered but on closer scrutiny is formed loosely in the shape of a spiral. The combination of this bright approach and the strongly contrasting areas for typography helps this really jump out of any lineup. 

The second-with a more rigidly constructed approach-employed a minimalist lineart pattern that served as the backdrop for a lovely, Kente inspired strip of colour and shape. This Kente strip, served as an identifier for the various flavours, working together with the earthy colour palette to differentiate them. I considered this the most elegant of the set. 

The third option, a soft pastel affair with simple, bold imagery and gold foil accents was more suited for a high-brow line of luxury chocolates and would be used for exactly that.

I left the studio shortly after this project's design phase was completed and was not present for its final production. Among other reasons, the studio was unable to use the carefully setup design files in my absence and production did not happen as expected. Another dream project that never quite made it to it's true birth but one that I'm very proud of.

Process
[Below] The library of ingredient illustrations I developed for the spiral pattern.