Butterfly Cannon has created a big chunk of quirky, sustainable & delicious fun with their brand redesign for Montezuma's Chocolates. Montezuma's Chocolates was born out of its founders, Helen and Simon's love affair with Latin America and the extraordinary chocolate they found on their travels there.
Since setting up shop in Brighton to make their own handmade chocolates in a multitude of flavors, using only ethically sourced ingredients, Montezuma's Chocolates' business had grown organically. With increased investment and an ambitious plan for growth beyond their own stores, they tasked Butterfly Cannon to re-focus the brand's purpose and re-think its creative platform and visual identity on pack to attract a more urban ethical consumer.
Through consumer research and working with the team at Montezuma's, the design studio's purpose became 'inviting consumers to discover extraordinary chocolate flavors crafted with creativity and flair.' For the core brand icon, the design team broke the Montezuma's M out of the ubiquitous star that it sat in, boiling down and sharpening it in order to make it the instantly recognizable star of the show. More than just 'M' for Montezuma's, it is a portal through which to explore a fantastical world of flavors and much, much more; eclectic, hand-drawn illustrations allude to the crafted way they make chocolate, whilst photographic elements keep things real and communicate the integrity in sourcing ingredients, with each individual element telling a different part of the Montezuma's story, all with a very British twinkle in the eye!
The unique wordmark is designed to reflect the sharp edges within the brand icon, whilst a six-pointed star in place of the apostrophe in Montezuma's is a reassuring nod to the old brand identity. This visual link allows a flexible approach to the brand assets whilst maintaining a cohesive identity.
The central theme of discovery and variety is dramatically brought to life on pack through individual flavors having their own 'M' icon. Within each icon, the illustrations and colorways shift and change to tell the story of the flavor and bring to life quirky product names such as 'Nutterscotch,' 'Like No Udder' and 'Smooth Operator.' These are executed in a bespoke 'Montezuma's Sans' typeface created to optimize legibility, whilst reflecting the hand-drawn approach within the illustrations.
The result is a versatile and infinitely adaptable branding system that future proofs Montezuma's ever-expanding product range and informs everything from Instagram to the Montezuma's stores. Since launching in April 2020, the redesign has received extremely positive feedback from consumers via social media and has directly led to increased store listings, including more lines being added in John Lewis Partnership.
