Ombar Health-food Chocolate

Web & Interface, Print Communications, Illustration

The brief
Ombar is health-food chocolate manufacturer based in Cambridge who supply their chocolate range to many health food shops. We were approached to redesign the packaging to take the design from a functional, plain design to a more enticing, sensual design befitting of chocolate.

Purely as part of essential research, we ate our way through a bag of chocolate samples. It was hellish, but we're professionals. The chocolate was delicious and the sensory experience helped us convey the character of the chocolate more effectively through richer, more luxurious designs.

Points of interest

• Chocolate is a sensual product and we set out to capture this in our designs for Ombar.  Effective design is not purely visual - it also communicates the subtle or intangible.
• Impressions matter, especially in a retail environment. Design must respect our client's brand whilst attracting customer attention.
• The final designs show what colour and type can achieve.

The process

1. First, we ate half the chocolate samples. We then moved on and ate the other half.  No time for procrastination.
2. We needed to capture the sensual pleasure of chocolate which the current packaging (a pleasant but plain brown wrapping) did not convey. A decadent product needs decadent colours.
3. The design process therefore began around determining the sumptuous colours we were going to use. The colours needed to meet two criteria (1) be luxurious, (2) complement the flavours and names of each chocolate bar.
4. Next we designed the logo. The positive connotations of  chocolate are comfort, celebration and pleasure.  Ombar, as a health-food chocolate,  was also better for customers.  So our logo design was based around a figure holding up their arms as an expression of these qualities.  The logo's ambiguity (it can be interpreted as rejoice or embrace/comfort) is deliberate and works perfectly to reinforce the positive emotions associated with chocolate.
5. We opted for a smooth, "creamy" font as befitting for chocolate.

The result
The package redesign produced a warmer, more comforting and luxurious image of the Ombar range as befitting chocolate. Our designs were approved, ready for a major trade exhibition and were on shop shelves within the month.

Commissioned by: Ombar Health-food Chocolate