Gold Packaging Design · 2021
Mirzam: Monsters Collection Chocolate Packaging
- A' Design Award 2021 Gold Winner in Packaging Design
- Awarded April 15, 2021
- CLIENT: Backbone Branding
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 35,055
- Verification code 2D313034C6 · Verify this award
About Mirzam: Monsters Collection Chocolate Packaging
Chocolate-makers from the UAE (Dubai) needed a branding for handcrafted bean-to-bar chocolate. From the naming and identity to the product design and packaging, the team designed each element with a fascinating story around the whole concept. The brand based on journeys through the ancient Orient along long-forgotten ocean routes and pathways was created. A journey from one country to another, meeting monsters and mythical characters. The packaging design is the illusion of a journey between myth and reality.
Positioned within the contemporary renaissance of artisanal confectionery presentation, Mirzam: Monsters Collection Chocolate Packaging by Backbone Branding achieves remarkable synthesis between regional maritime heritage and universal narrative traditions of seafaring adventure. The design system appears to draw upon the rich visual vocabulary of historical cartography, where mythological sea creatures populated the margins of navigational charts, simultaneously warning of dangers and celebrating the mysteries that awaited beyond known waters. The technical execution demonstrates extraordinary facility in two distinct modes of visual expression: the left package showcases virtuosic pen-and-ink illustration recalling the precision of Victorian natural history publications and the decorative exuberance of Art Nouveau ornamental design, while the right package transforms these same elements through contemporary digital techniques into ethereal cosmic visions. The traditional wooden dhow vessel, a craft deeply embedded in regional maritime commerce and pearl diving traditions, serves as the unifying motif bridging both packages and anchoring the fantastical imagery within cultural specificity. This vessel, rendered with careful attention to its distinctive triangular sail configuration and graceful hull proportions, evokes centuries of oceanic navigation and trade route exploration. The chromatic progression from the contained monochromatic palette of black upon cream to the expansive celestial gradients of blue through magenta suggests a journey from documented reality into imaginative possibility, from the charted to the uncharted. Typography maintains elegant restraint through flowing script that complements the organic qualities of the illustration while establishing clear brand recognition. The viewer may find themselves contemplating how these packages transform the simple act of chocolate consumption into an invitation for adventure, each wrapper becoming a portal to waters where wonder still dwells in the deep.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Chocolate-makers from the UAE (Dubai) contacted us to create a branding for handcrafted bean-to-bar chocolate. From the naming and identity to the product design and packaging, we designed each element with a fascinating story around the whole concept. We created the brand based on journeys through the ancient Orient along long-forgotten ocean routes and pathways. A journey from one country to another, meeting monsters and mythical characters.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Width 31 mm x Depth 1 mm x Height 61 mm
- Tags
- chocolate, packaging, packaging design, fiction, monsters, sea, trade, the Orient, Arabic
- Production Technology
- The technology used for this project was making stencil-like design for the sleeve of the chocolate packaging, thus making the monsters illustrations on the actual surface of the packaging visible from the window. The material used for packaging design is paper.
- Design Challenge
- The project had a central goal of storytelling and conveying the message and experience to the consumer. In this case, the central challenge was telling a deep story in a complete form, which however is hard to do on a small, flat packaging. Thus, we came up with a sliding-sleeve technology that helps the storytelling process. Hence, with the monsters illustrations on the actual surface of the packaging visible from the window and the interactive sleeve unveiling a new reality,the emotional message behind the packaging is perfectly conveyed.
- Project Duration
- January-September 2015, Yerevan, Armenia
- Operation Flow
- The idea was to express destruction of the myth with an interactive packaging design. On the sliding sleeve, the monsters are clearly seen, as the merchants’ stories visualization. When you remove the sleeve, you uncover a new reality – where the shine of stars and ocean planktons create an impression of the fantastic mythical beasts. This mythical journey follows you even when you unwrap the bar and see the sea wave patterns on the chocolate which sums up the Mirzam Chocolate adventure.
- Research
- The research was a central stage when developing the project, as the team dived deep into Arabic story-telling especially connected with sea and sea trade. Thus, the naming Mirzam was developed which is the Beta star of Canis Major, the greater of Orion’s canine companions. During the era of the Spice Route, Mirzam was one of the primary stars, by which sailors would navigate. As such it is representing the romance and adventure of bygone days – an era that we celebrate at Mirzam Chocolate. Further, as a result of a research the brand concept and story was developed.
- Inspiration
- The central story that inspired to design the packaging of the chocolate is the Arabic fictional story. The packaging line for Mirzam Monsters Collection is our interpretation of those tales told by the Arab merchants to scare off their competitors from entering the sea trade, about mythical monsters, who blocked their passage and tried to sink and swallow their vessel with spices.
- Image Credits
- All Photo Credits to Bacbkone Branding
- Patents
- Copyrights belong to Mirzam Chocolate Makers
Colors of Mirzam: Monsters Collection Chocolate Packaging
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