When Christmas is around the corner, it’s only natural for design minds to start tinkering. How does one encompass the spirit of Christmas in design without taking a big sip of eggnog flavored cliches?
Polkadot Design founders, Nearchos Ntaskas and Clair Georgelli, aspired to do something different last year for the holidays by supplying a gift as a way to show gratitude towards their clients. So, they began hunting for a gift idea and a design to match.
“During a studio brainstorming session,” Clair says, “a chocolate treat came up, and we all happily agreed, and the excitement started.”
“We tasted a lot of real chocolate,” Clair adds. “That was one of the best parts of the project! Then, we collected nice golden foil papers and started having fun with the design proposals.
“Our biggest goal was to create a gift that would reflect the warmth of the Christmas spirit. Christmas is also generally surrounded by sweet flavors and lots of books, so the idea of combining chocolate with literature illustrations helped us achieve our goal.”
From there, the team at Polkadot Design crafted three designs. The first allows you to fall down the rabbit hole with Alice as you unwrap a chocolate bar embellished with the Queen of Hearts. The second illustration depicts part of the journey eight-year-old Remi takes as an apprentice with Joli-Coeur and his three dogs in Sans Famille, also known as Nobody’s Boy in the English translation. The third and final design showcases the piano Beth received from her neighbor, Mr. Laurence in Pretty Women.
Little did they know, the real work had yet to begin. Once you factor in the manual labor where over one hundred chocolate bars had to be hand-wrapped in foil and then sealed with the design, one gets a sense just how committed they are to their craft.
Overall, each of these beautifully hand-illustrated designs provides inspiration to cozy up with a good read, whether it’s one of the stories Polkadot illustrated or a favorite from your childhood, it all pairs well some delicious chocolate.
Yet, what’s really unique about this product isn’t necessarily the designs themselves, but the fact that from start to finish, Nearchos and Clair put forth the extra work to ensure their clients felt the warmth of the Christmas spirit as well as their gratitude. Between the illustrations drawn by the team, to the handpicked flavor of chocolate, all the way to the final stage of wrapping the bars, this gift is all heart.
