Client Goals
Launching your own business takes a lot of work. It was during this critical point that I met Jennie Hales, entrepreneur and owner of the The Truffle Cottage. As she was defining her target audience, we recognized that she would need her own specialized packaging to stand out from the crowd. Because each of her truffles are unique, they tribute to a variety of niche pop culture references. As such, this came with a unique set of challenges:
- The packaging design couldn’t hide or detract from the chocolate truffles in any way.
- Each package should be individually stylized to compliment the particular truffle, whether from a video game, TV show, or other franchise.
- We needed a wide variety of packaging styles depending on the number of truffles per package, or the size/shape of the chocolate.
Process
Because I worked with The Truffle Cottage during their early business stages, we did a lot of iterations together. This included working through a variety of logo and branding reworks from a third party. Once the current logo was finalized, I was able to quickly create options for Jennie’s products. Jennie would give me the dimensions for each package, and I began with sketches for each subculture (Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Avengers, Star Wars, and Star Trek, to name a few). After my sketches, I created print-ready files for her using both Photoshop and Illustrator.
Challenges
As Jennie was just getting her business off the ground, it was hard to know just how well the product would sell at each convention. So we didn’t know exactly how many labels she would need printed for each package. We were surprised and excited when the chocolates were consistently selling out! However, this led to a lot of last-minute printing and extremely tight deadlines. Because I personally oversaw the printing process, I was able to meet these deadlines and hand deliver the labels to Jennie’s house.
Successes
The Truffle Cottage has since experienced continuous growth. During my time working with Jennie, I created over 75 designs, within 27 different styles. The Truffle Cottage team now travels across the country to a variety of conventions, consistently selling out. Simultaneously, they offer chocolate sales through their website, and recently opened an official storefront in Pleasant Grove, Utah.