I am so excited to share the process of working on my dream project for Godiva.
Having worked as an artist in Paris for many years, I remember there was a Godiva boutique right outside the Metro stop from where I worked. I would pass those deliciously stunning window displays each morning and peer in with awe at Godiva's gorgeously packaged products. Godiva's luxury chocolates were always beautifully designed with glossy packaging and sophisticated artwork.
You can imagine the excitement I felt when they selected me to develop the artwork for their Halloween 2020 product line!
Having always been a huge fan of Halloween, cats and spooky themes, I was so thrilled to take on this commission.
The client sent over a brief which I reviewed and then proceeded to have a meeting to further discuss any details that needed to be emphasized by the client.
They gave me their halloween seasonal Pantone colors to work with, as well as a very detailed description of what the feeling of the artwork should evoke. The client was very clear that they wanted the cats to be "not too childish or cute" but "not too frightening or scary either."
This was a bit of a challenge for me since I like to draw cats with large silly eyes!
A spooky selection in the making—check out those Pantone colors!
After several rounds of sketches and revisions, we settled on sophisticated black cats perched atop decorative embellished pumpkins. The client approved this sketch and then I developed two different design layouts with different color background options for the client to select.
I created the artwork digitally using my Wacom Cintiq. The client requested minimal shading, they wanted the artwork to stand out and look very strong and bold without looking too simple or minimal. Though the rendering of the cats and pumpkins were minimal, I added in lots of little details that kept your eye moving throughout the design. The falling leaves, flying bats, and flickering candles all create a magical environment surrounding the cats in the pumpkin patch.
The purple background was the winner! The client liked the layout/design of the purple background better, as well as the fact they felt the art popped out nicely from this color background.
This collaboration is available in the US & Japan only. The Japanese release has a few more products and it's definitely worth checking out. The team did a fantastic job using die-cut shapes, embellishments and even glow in the dark features on the packaging.
Even some of the chocolates have my artwork printed on them!
Yum!! The perfect mix of cute and creepy…
Glowing goodies!!
The Godiva team was a joy to collaborate with on such a special seasonal project. It was sincerely a dream come true to work with such an amazing client!