“Chocolate became popular in the 18th and 19th centuries; it was only sold as a luxury drink.”
During the 18th & 19th centuries, advertisements depicted the use of serif and script fonts to highlight the elegance of chocolate and how only the elite could afford this luxurious product. Today, various brands still use serif fonts to convey that their chcolate is luxurious.
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After the rise of Art Nouveau and Art Deco, this movement shifted the design of typography. Art Deco is visible within the typography using bubble letters to create a geometric/modern feel. We also see Art Nouveau in some chocolate packaging today as the typefaces are swirly with embellished stroke endings. For example, the brand “Pump Street” uses an Art Nouveau style because of its swirly and curled style. Today, due to the accessibility to chocolate, it is more exciting; therefore, the fonts are bolder, and san serifs are used to add a modern retro feel.
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Naive Chocolate, Located at Bryan’s Market (CA), 2024
Manoa
Manoa is a Hawaiin Chocolate brand established in 2010. It has continued to grow its business, emphasizing its devotion to connecting with Hawaii and its cultural roots through the flavors and typographic design they spotlight. Their typography is a san serif, yet their title uses a serif as the “a” is curled at the end, giving that ocean, wave, ripple effect.
Their ultimate goal is to emphasize their connection to Hawaii, therefore their typography exemplifies this. For the passion fruit bar, the woman stands tall with fruit above her head, and they use a very bold yet tropical feel for their brand. They send a more modern feel for their brand as it is very clean and earthy yet still has sprinkled in some pop of color and waviness for the name of their brand. Each of Manoa’s chocolates are full of rich and fruity flavors that will make you want to try each bar for their unique flavors!
Manoa Chocolate, Located at Bryan’s Market (CA), 2024
Recchiuti
“Experience the recchiuti confection flavors that start an obsession.”
Located here in San Francisco at the Ferry Building, Recchuiti is a fun, minimalist-styled chocolate brand. They solely focus on their typography and less on the graphics. They use a San Serif, and they have fun with it.
As you can see on their packaging, they stretch each letter to make it really long in a staircase format. It almost appears like dripping chocolate. The brand’s name is also like this but smaller because they want the flavor to pop. This is a fun and delicious bar to try!
When analyzing the typography, the brand uses san serifs as the type does not have decorative letters, and the cacao beans are found deep within the Amazon rainforest along the Jurua River. The cacao beans are very rare, and this brand tends to use cacao beans that are unique yet delicious. This highlights the significance behind the jaguar, as these wild cats are just as rare as the cacao beans that make this bar. In addition, this bar portrays a rustic vintage feel with its emphasized typography and color scheme, making it a unique and interesting bar for those who love chocolate!
Caputos Chocolate, located at Bryan’s Market (CA), 2024
Recchiuti Chocolate, Located at Bryan’s Market (CA), 2024
Pump S treet
Pump Street was established in 2010 and has flourished as a chocolate and bakery business. Today, Jesse Brown is the artist behind the packaging and design of the bars. Initially, the bars only emphasized the typography with a clean pink background as portrayed below, but now, this artist has added their inspiration to the design adding more illustrations.
From the photo presented, the Pump Street logo uses a serif font with a wavey and elegant feel. The descriptions around the origins are san serifs. This allows for more accessibility in reading the packaging and ensures hierarchical differences within the layout.
Pump Street, Located at Bryans Market (CA), 2024
“Luisa Abram, famous for her unique chocolate bars and delicious flavors!”
Luisa Abrams has been working for eight years to find the perfect chocolate recipe! All her sources come from the Amazon. Her typography is minimalist but very earthy and tropical. The packages have leaves and bright colors to symbolize a tropical relaxation feeling. The typography is a san serif as there are no curls at the end of letters. She uses a great hierarchy to present each section of the bar: brand, origin, name, and ingredients.
Luisa Abram,
Located at Bryan’s Market (CA), 2024
I’m Lila, a Bay Area-based graphic designer and web designer. I am currently an undergraduate at the University of San Francisco. I am pursuing a B.A. in design and a minor in advertising! I have always been fascinated by the design world, and my major has allowed me to discover my true passion for storytelling through my artwork. I want to use my creative expression to bring something new to the world. I am inspired by web, editorial, and graphic design, and I am looking to pursue these areas in the future!
When I am not drawing in my notebook or creating mood boards for new projects, you can find me rock climbing and hiking! I enjoy the outdoors, baking, and experimenting with various baking techniques.
