MACHAS

Souvenirs of the World: Ray Oranges for Godiva

In recent years, we’ve seen a sharp increase in the number of brands engaging with artists, and packaging has undoubtedly been a category thriving with exciting collaborations.

When Godiva, the fine Belgian chocolate brand, teamed up with Machas’ award-winning visual artist Ray Oranges to create seven packaging designs for their Souvenir Collection, we knew it was going to be an exciting collaboration!

Ray Oranges’ vibrant and modern style depicts artful, location-based landscapes as an allure to the confectionary within. Ray created a series of illustrations beautifully capturing the excitement and soul of Paris, Istanbul, Taiwan, Guam, Hawaii and the USA (that is available in two versions), four of which were exclusive to DFS, the leading travel retailer around the world.

However, creating artworks to be displayed in a highly competitive environment such as travel retail requires more than just a pleasing image.

“It was a really interesting collaboration because of the very nature of the Souvenir range,” says Ray. “This Godiva collection is available in all their stores, but it’s a best seller in the travel retail category as it’s intended to be a memento of travel. My goal was then to create an artwork that maintains my visual approach (abstract, interconnected) but at the same time, stands out from all the other terminal offers and unmistakably channels the essence of the destination —  all of this in less than five seconds, as this is the attention given by the distracted travellers on their way to the gate.”

“The very first step was to identify the universally recognised landmarks to work with, and I could only use public-owned landmarks. I had no problem with locations like Paris or Guam, but USA proved to be challenging as I had to create two artworks, one general and one DFS exclusive, and many of the most recognisable landmarks are private! Think the Empire State Building: off limits. The Hollywood Bowl: off limits. I had quite a lot of brainstorming sessions to choose the most suitable and aesthetically pleasant elements for the composition. I also had to keep in mind that the illustrations needed to work on different formats, so I need to factor this in my choice as well.”

Ray began his creative process from Godiva’s golden logo, placed right at the centre of the packaging. “I built both the composition and the palette around it,” Ray says. “I wanted to deliver a visual representation of both the tasting experience when eating chocolate and travelling. I love chocolate, it’s a moment of luxury we treat ourselves with. So I chose a soft but vibrant colour palette, and the composition surrounds the logo in a precious, captivating and dreamy representation of the location.”

The seven packagings all stand out for their individual locations but for Ray “USA DFS exclusive turned out to be my favourite of all the packagings, mostly for a chromatic reason. I love to juxtapose red and pink, blue and green.”

Matthew Hodges, President of Godiva Global Sales, commented: “Godiva and Ray Oranges share a talent for craftsmanship and beautiful creations. His joyful, vibrant designs for the new Godiva Souvenir Collection reflect the soul of the destinations in a modern and unique way. Together with the delicious assortments of the finest Belgian chocolates and biscuits, the designs will delight all travellers looking for premium gifts.”

Part of the collection was explicitly designed for DFS. Brooke Supernaw, DFS Group Senior Vice President for Spirits, Wine, Tobacco, Food and Gifts added: “We are thrilled to offer our discerning customers the first taste of the new Godiva Souvenir Collection.”

“At DFS we are always looking for new ways to showcase the unique qualities of the many destinations around the world in which we operate, and we are sure that this new Collection will be enthusiastically received by global travellers who appreciate the finest gifts and flavours.”

Ray’s designs contributed to making Godiva’s Souvenir Collection not only a lovely gift for people to bring back from holiday, but also helping the brand appeal to a younger audience. 

See more of Ray’s work here.