Chocolate Ampersands

Chocolate meets layered type and woodblocks

I'm a total chocaholic…

so this packaging design seems a fitting tribute to my addiction. This concept, born out of a project that didn't end up going ahead, was inspired by the Pouchée wood alphabets. The illustrated ampersands matched with flecked, textured paper aim to evoke an early Victorian packaging feel.

While creating the lettering for the brand ‘Albert & Rose’, I thought the lettering would make a fun, layered typeface. I released the font commecially and it's since become one of my most popular designs. You can read more about Brim Narrow here.

I made several studies of a variety of ‘Fatface’ ampersands, including the Pouchée ampersands and those with more modern proportions.

I redrew the characters to gauge suitability to accommodate the internal illustration, taking particular note of their weight, structure and ability to work with a strong shadow (without clogging up the arm or counter spaces).

The main diagonal is curved and swollen to better accommodate illustration and the shadow is drawn optically (rather than a true shadow), to strengthen particular areas of the character.

Each design follows a simple internal structure that helps the eye more easily comprehend the whole design.

This project was featured in Print Magazines's 10 Remarkable Shadow Type & Lettering Designs