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Concepts We Wish Were Real: Green and Black's Rebrand Edition

by Natalie Mouradian on 12/23/2016 | 8 Minute Read

Green & Black’s is a chocolate brand founded on sustainable and ethical cocoa sourcing principles, based on their conviction that great taste comes from the finest ingredients. Green symbolizes their commitment to always sourcing ethical cocoa. Black stands for their high quality and the delicious intensity of their chocolate.

This Fall term, students from ArtCenter College of Design's Packaging 2 class were tasked to redesign the Green and Black's brand.


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Green & Black’s new redesign embraces the idea of being more physically engaged in our eating experience by elevating our senses of tactility and touch, giving us a full hands on experience. With this line of new packaging there is a focus on textures, patterns, and consumer interaction. Green & Black’s is going to deliver a whole new experience that will keep us engaged and leave us wanting more. 

Designed by: Shirley Van

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Green and Black’s is a premium, organic, and fair trade chocolate that was founded by Craig Sams and Jo Fairley. The whole journey started when Craig received a sample of dark chocolate and left it on his desk. Then, Jo snuck in to steal a bite, fell in love, and knew that she had to share this beauty. This bio sparked a sense of playfulness and welcoming which is an opposite look of the current Green and Black’s. That’s where my journey started and after interviewing people and finding out that people were afraid to indulge in chocolate, I married those two ideas for my concept.

The redesign of Green and Black’s helps the joyful introverts let out their real and free spirited sides by approaching them in a subtle playful way. It’s time for guilt-free indulgence.

The design of my packaging really focuses on the details. The way consumers peel the packaging to reveal the playful side, unscrew the bottle cap to reveal a message, and squeeze out the spread visually mirror the characteristics of my target audience and speak the message I want to spread. 

Designed by: Ha Lim Sally Lee

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My assignment was to create a product line for Green & Black’s chocolate as well as rebrand the company. I created a new identity system and repackaged some of their existing products as well as come up with new additional products. These products would retail at most grocery stores. My goal is to target men and women ages 25-35 who are bold, thrill-seeking extroverts and live eventful lifestyles. They love attracting people and are always up for a good conversation. The concept is to celebrate Green & Black’s award-winning quality and the luxuriousness of the chocolate by really calling attention and attracting its consumers with strong, dramatic graphics and striking packaging. 

Designed by: Angela Baek

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The assignment was to package and rebrand the Green & Black’s organic chocolate.The new Green & Black’s provides a rich and empowering experience to the urban beasts, helping them to feel confident and revived, making them just as alluring and authentic as the chocolate itself. The target market are the urban beasts, they are people who are or want to be strong, independent, and confident and who work hard to own what they do and chase after their dreams.

Designed by: Amber Wang

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Current chocolate packaging out in the market are beautiful, smooth, well-crafted, and wrapped with the finest fabrics. The focus is around the exterior beauty of chocolate when chocolate should be about embracing its true nature. This includes, how it breaks, the spirit of chocolate, and the complexity of the production. Using this fundamental idea, I’ve decided to contrast the norm by appreciating the way we eat and look at chocolates. 

To begin, I had to understand how chocolates are sold, made, and displayed. I’ve realized that if a package is not a rectangle, then the package won’t be placed in the same aisle as most other chocolates. Through experiencing the tour of chocolate-making at Mast Brothers and learning about the philosophy of Green and Black's, I've learned that it is important for the consumers to enjoy the chocolates. It is also important that chocolates should be designed with the perspective of the makers in mind, and concepts such as how the chocolates are made and molded should be considered. Putting these ideas together, I’ve decided to redesign the chocolates based on the way we create them and the way we share and break the pieces apart.

My target audience is early adopters who are open to trying new things. They spend more time out of the house due to active lifestyles. The product should be gender neutral with an implicit cool factor. To successfully gain their attention, the packaging must engage their minds. These consumers look for simplicity, performance, and quality.

Designed by: Mun Jane Kim