Winter 09 : Project Chocolate

In Fall of 2009, Lovesick Robot Press attended the Alternative Press Expo and came back with a brand new rolodex full of awesome new friends, colleagues, peers and acquaintances. They were all outstanding individuals who were awesome to exhibit with in San Francisco, so we decided to make them something special to show our gratitude.

OBJECTIVES:

  • Make a selection of home-made chocolates to send to a network of friends, family and colleagues for the holidays
  • Design packaging with a non-denominational, “wintry” look that also incorporates the business identity of Lovesick Robot Press
  • Research food shipping and make sure chocolates arrive as intended
  • Maintain a reasonable budget for the entire project while making it feel expensive and thoughtful

To make this project manageable, I decided to stick with six flavors of chocolate. It gave me room to play with different chocolate flavorings while helping to keep the project at a manageable budget.

For flavors, I decided to include three traditional chocolate combinations, and three not-so-traditional-but-very-delicious chocolate combinations. This way, there would be something to suit most people’s tastes, and something new for everyone to try and to raise recipient’s eyebrows with wonder:

  • orange
  • mint
  • cinnamon
  • rosemary
  • bacon
  • hot chili

Each of the chocolate flavors was made by hand in our freshly sanitized Lovesick Robot kitchen using store-bought plastic molds. We melted the chocolate in a double-boiler, added the flavorings, filled the molds and let the chocolates harden in the freezer. We then wrapped the chocolates in colored candy foils that indicated the chocolate’s flavor.

For the packaging, we purchased plain white boxes and designed a paper wrapper for the outside four walls and a small booklet for the top that would serve as a card and an explanation for the gift.

Project Chocolate took approximately two weeks to complete from conception to execution, and we managed to ship the gifts out just in time for the holidays!