Chocolate is the perfect gift! For the chocolate box shown here, I illustrated and designed the packaging, complete with Cecilie O. branding. Visit Enoshima Island just outside Tokyo, and you can buy this chocolate, produced and distributed by a Japanese company.
Gazing at Mt.Fuji is a favorite pastime in Japan, and Enoshima island is a famous such viewing spot. And a whole lot more- beaches, aquarium and a celebrated, yearly illumination festival from December to February, when the tall lighthouse of Enoshima gets festive with a gazillion sparkling lights.
My job was to capture this illumination in an illustration for the chocolate box. How on earth was I going to make a clean line drawing out of shining lights? A few sketches down the road, I settled on a highly decorative approach. That’s my angle anyway. But it’s not like drawing decorative birds, animals, and plants…..a tower with lights is not your average decorative subject. You’ve heard the expression “that’s so chocolate box…”, meaning: kitsch. I hope I avoided that one with this illustration…
Many years ago, together with my family, I enjoyed Japan’s holy mountain Mt. Fuji by ascending it to the top. Joining a crowd of pilgrims, we set out late in the evening from the official starting point. The luminous sight of sunrise from above the clouds, as we walked our way towards the summit at 3,776 meters, is the most beautiful view I have ever experienced.
The sketches are showing part of the design process for the illustration
If you visit Enoshima Island, enjoy some chocolate from the souvenir store as you gaze at Mt. Fuji. And just like my magic morning at the Mt. Fuji summit, sunrise is part of the Enoshima packaging design illustration.
Sunrise view from Mt. Fuji after climbing up all night. It was one of the most amazing moments of my life, and the colors inspired the illustration. After all, from Enoshima you have a great view of Mt. Fuji.