Nope, not yet time to preorder for the fall. Just one of a few summer updates.
This one kicks off a new look for Clandestine Chocolates, triggered by designing a new box for the fall, but more on that later.
When I started making chocolates years ago, I picked a typeface based solely on one I had in multiple sizes. And by that I mean different cases of lead type in varying point size, as I printed all my labels on a letterpress.
The Liberty font I used was designed in 1927 by Willard Sniffen. It had a somewhat elegant look, but it always felt a bit dated to me.
I also never really had a logo and changed images on labels based on the season and the type I had.
But, I always liked this type block, as owls seem rather clandestine and there is something simple and clean about the design.
I can't remember where this particular one came from. It might have been one my father picked up or one I bought on eBay when searching for interesting type blocks.
So, one day I was poking around in the print shop and thinking "if I'm getting new custom chocolate boxes I may need to figure out the look and logo thing." I pulled out the owl and then a case of one of my favorite fonts.
Optima was designed by the German typographer Hermann Zapf in 1958. He had visited a church in Italy and was struck by the lettering on grave stones cut in the 16th century. Having no paper with him, he sketched them on the back of two 1,000 Lire bank notes. That was the inspiration for the Optima typeface, which has since become widely used because of its simple elegance.
I liked how the owl and the font worked together, but had to experiment with combining them and also create a digital version for more flexibility. Here are some of the digital versions.
When working with type or design, I'm always channelling my father and my sister Anne, too. Our dad taught us to set type and use a letter press when we were kids and later in life we would all print together in his basement printshop. A designer, teacher, and photographer, he gave Anne, our brother Tim, and me a certain eye for what we like. I think we all still measure things by his standards, and expect he would approve.
I hope you approve of the new look as well!
Well, that's a lot about design and not much about chocolate!
I'll share more chocolate-related developments in a few future summer updates. In the meantime, I hope you're enjoying the season and avoiding the crazy weather around much of the country!
Jonathan Doherty
Chocolatier