Upright look for chocolate

Central European chocofiles are in for a treat this week when Suchard launches a range of new-look chocolate bars in Hungary as part of a re-evaluation of the company’s branding.

Designed by London consultancy Williams Murray Banks to stack vertically on-shelf, the six-strong colour-coded range features largely nutty confections. The vertical design, says WMB creative director Justin Banks, fits the Hungarian market. ‘Here [in the UK] you expect a rag bag of bars on the shelf,’ he says. There things are more orderly.

Colour ‘flavour-banding’ on the ‘tablets’ helps to reinforce the vertical design, with colours chosen to reflect the ingredients. ‘We had to pay lip-service to a certain colour palette,’ says Banks. Key ingredients photographed by Jess Koppel appear on each bar, against a background created by visualiser John Bradley.

WMB discovered that Suchard was using four or five type styles to convey its branding across Europe. For the Hungarian packs, developed with Suchard’s Budapest office, WMB designer Kate Shaw spent time crafting the logo that appears on the bars, drawing on elements from versions already on the market. The end result was hand-drawn by lettering artist Jason Smith, and according to Banks, will be used on other Suchard products WMB is developing.

Though rival consultancy Design Bridge announced this week that it has worked on Suchard’s range in Austria, the WMB designs will possibly be rolled out across Central and Western Europe – until, we presume, under EC rules the food formerly known as chocolate ceases to be and it’s back to the drawing board for confectionery packs.

Designer: Williams Murray Banks

Client: Kraft Jacobs Suchard