Wild Child Limited Edition Cacao Packaging 

Wild Child is a small, independent cacao brand and cafe based in Amsterdam. Their cacao beans are sustainably sourced in the Dominican Republic and transported to Europe by traditional sailing ship. Their cacao bars are sold in beautifully printed, 500g boxes and every one thousand packages they invite a different artist to design the box cover. I was delighted when they asked me to collaborate with them to create a limited edition illustrated packaging design as part of their art and cacao project. 

I was immediately inspired by the link between Wild Child’s home in Amsterdam and the origins of the cacao in the Dominican Republic. My illustration weaves together the iconic dutch gabled houses of Amsterdam with flora and fauna endemic to the Dominican Republic – including the cacao flower itself of course. 

Find out more about how I created my design below or read my full interview on the Wild Child blog.

I love the iconic shape of the gabled houses in Amsterdam along with the canal bridges, and this became the starting point for my illustration. I began by cutting up and collaging some photos of the buildings, along with hand-cut paper silhouettes and I started to see a fun pattern emerging. I had to highlight the cacao flower itself through some hand drawn illustrations and make them prominent throughout the piece. Reading about how the tropical climate affects the cacao flavour in the Wild Child story made me want to bring in some of the other amazing flora and fauna that is endemic to the Dominican Republic, such as the Rosa De Bayahibe and the Hispaniolan Lizard Cuckoo. I wove these illustrations in between the collaged elements to evoke a sense of the two worlds colliding. There is also a little reference to cacao’s place within Aztec culture as a ceremonial drink with the Aztec inspired patterned graphic shapes.