Preserving the heritage of a beloved Dutch chocolatier while building a modern, omnichannel brand fit for retail, e-commerce, and trade.
A family business crafting handmade chocolates in Schiedam since 1992. The challenge was to modernize their extensive physical packaging and digital storefront without losing the authentic, artisanal charm of their original recipes.
De Bonte Koe produces chocolates according to original family recipes using honest ingredients. As their design partner, I was tasked with ensuring their visual identity—spanning from physical boxes and trade show booths to their Shopify storefront—reflected this commitment to quality and sustainability.
A multi-year design partnership managing the complete visual ecosystem for De Bonte Koe—from tactile, eco-friendly product packaging to running the daily operations of their Shopify e-commerce platform.
Designed dozens of physical SKUs, ensuring strict alignment with EU food labeling standards while utilizing renewable materials.
Maintained and optimized the digital storefront, creating digital graphics, banners, and promotional assets to drive online conversion.
Expanded the brand's physical footprint by designing scalable trade show booths, promotional flyers, and retail leaflets.
De Bonte Koe features an extensive, constantly evolving inventory. I developed a modular packaging design system that allowed the brand to quickly spin up new SKUs—from high-end Pralines to novelty chocolate trains—while maintaining absolute brand consistency on the shelf.
A modern brand lives in multiple dimensions simultaneously. To ensure De Bonte Koe maintained its premium artisanal positioning, every single customer touchpoint was systematically managed and designed.
Physical charm meets digital scale. I managed the complete Shopify ecosystem for De Bonte Koe, translating the tactile warmth of their packaging into high-converting web banners, optimized product galleries, and a seamless e-commerce checkout flow.
Designing a beautiful box on a retina screen is easy. Ensuring that box prints perfectly on raw, renewable cardboard using physical inks is a highly technical challenge.
The signature De Bonte Koe Coral ('#ea5f67') looks vibrant on the Shopify website, but translates differently to physical ink. I managed rigorous color-proofing with local printers to ensure the physical boxes matched the digital storefront perfectly.
The sliding tray mechanics required sub-millimeter precision. I engineered the packaging dielines to account for cardboard thickness and folding tolerances, ensuring the boxes assembled flawlessly on the production line without tearing.
Because the client prioritizes honest ingredients, the packaging had to reflect that ethos. I navigated supplier constraints to source uncoated, renewable paper stocks that could still hold high-fidelity foil stamping.
By consolidating the design language across print packaging, event marketing, and Shopify e-commerce, we drastically reduced production friction and created a seamless, premium retail experience for the customer.
De Bonte Koe creates honest chocolates using raw, natural ingredients. As their design partner, it was my responsibility to ensure that their physical packaging reflected this commitment to the environment.
Sourced specific uncoated, recyclable paper stocks that minimized environmental impact while still supporting high-end print finishes.
Engineered the surface artwork to utilize negative space effectively, reducing the total volume of industrial ink required per print run.
Optimized the physical dielines to reduce cardboard waste on the cutting room floor, creating a leaner, more cost-effective production cycle.
Producing high-end visuals requires meticulous attention to detail. This layout breaks down the post-production process, highlighting the precise lighting simulations and texture enhancements applied to the final packaging.
Retouching Notes
Ambient Occlusion: Deepened the contact shadows between the sliding tray and the outer sleeve to ground the object realistically.
Material Highlights: Enhanced the specular highlights on the gold truffles to contrast sharply against the matte finish of the coral box.
Select Asset
A brand must command the room from 20 feet away, but it must also seal the deal when held in the palm of a hand. I engineered both the massive trade show architecture and the intimate, tactile print flyers to ensure a seamless experiential funnel.
Designing a booth requires anticipating foot traffic. I utilized De Bonte Koe's signature teal and high-contrast typography to create a monolithic brand presence that acts as a beacon across crowded exhibition halls.
Traffic Strategy
Open-concept floor plan designed to remove physical barriers, inviting immediate product sampling.
Once the booth attracts the customer, the flyer must tell the story. I designed high-density informational leaflets utilizing heavy, uncoated paper stocks to emphasize the brand's artisanal, eco-friendly heritage.
Heritage brands reward designers who listen first. The strongest decisions came from interrogating what the long-time customers already loved, then quietly modernising the parts that no longer served them — never the parts they cherished.
If I were to do it again, I'd involve the production team weeks earlier. Some of the most interesting structural details emerged from supplier conversations we should have started during concept, not production.