Brand identity for Kreuther Handcrafted Chocolate, created while at The Velo Group alongside creative director Diego Kolsky. KHC was the chocolate annex to Gabriel Kreuther, the Michelin-starred Alsatian restaurant in Manhattan, with its program led by the restaurant's then pastry chef, Marc Aumont. The storefront opened in late 2016 at 41 West 42nd Street, directly across from Bryant Park. The mark pairs the crane from the restaurant's existing identity with a new KHC lockup, developed by Diego and myself.
art direction packaging
Kreuther Handcrafted Chocolate
The packaging system centered on sleeves for the chocolate boxes. The first series drew on imagery associated with luxury and high-touch materials: birch, marble, and similar textures, finished with layers of copper foil and the lockup in matching foil. We sourced the imagery and built each sleeve, separating the copper into distinct layers for production. Copper carried over from the Gabriel Kreuther identity, and it did two jobs at once: elevating the product and setting up a deliberate contrast with the soft pink interior of the boxes.
The sleeve system was built to evolve. Over the life of the brand I designed editions for a pie release, a winter collection, and Mother's Day. For Alquimia, a collaboration with Patrón, I designed a dedicated partnership mark and a matte black sleeve wrapped edge to edge in copper drips, a nod to the meeting of chocolate and tequila. Alongside the packaging, I created a series of digital watercolors as visual representations of each chocolate flavor, created for the brand's launch. The watercolors were printed as inserts accompanying the boxes, guiding the consumer through the collection. Select applications shown here were visualized in Blender.
