Michelle Clark

Mt. Hood Community College

GD 252, 2009

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FIERA CHOCOLATELike Festive Fire

by Michelle Clark

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THE PROJECT

This book demonstrates the creative process and the

outcome of the Fiera Chocolate project. The objective

of this project was to create a visual identity system

for a fictitious cocoa company that is a member of the

World Cocoa Foundation, who practices ecological

and sustainable cacao farming.

My process included researching a country in which

the company originates, choosing a name, develop-

ing a target audience and positioner for the company,

creating and designing a logo, and designing packag-

ing for three chocolate products that are relevant to

the company’s vision and the country from which the

chocolate is produced.

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Mexico

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PEOPLE OF MEXICO

Most Mexicans would describe themselves as Mestizos,

which is someone who is a descendant of both Native

Americans and Europeans.

Culture, tradition, and family are seen as the center

of life and society in Mexico. Family is the center of

the social structure, and even outside of major cities

families are still generally large and retain traditional

roles. The father is the head of the household, the

authority figure and the decision maker. Although

mothers are greatly revered, their role continues to be

secondary to that of their husbands.

Mexicans are very warm, generous, and social people.

They welcome anyone into their country, as long as

they are shown the proper respect. Physical contact

happens upon meeting, even before exchanging a

verbal greeting. Men shake hands and women touch

each other on the right shoulder. Mexicans celebrate

holidays with colorful festivals known as Fiestas. Every

Mexican city, town, and village holds a yearly festival

to commemorate their local patron saints. They also

hold large parades with fireworks, dancing competi-

tions, beauty pageants, and food in the market places.

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CACAO & TABASCO

Tabasco is the true Birthplace of Chocolate. To this

day it plays an important role in the economy and

the life of the people of Tabasco, serving as the base

of some of their traditional meals and drinks.

Located to the southeast of Mexico, Tabasco is a

tropical land with exuberant vegetation. The land-

scape is composed of thick jungle, lagoons, rivers

and marshes. Coffee and cacao grow in abundance

here, as do banana and rubber trees. The cacao tree

bears fruit twice a year are planted along with avo-

cado, pataste and arbol de pan to provide shade.

It is also a land of history and rich in tradition.

It remains the flowering of one of the most ancient

and important Mesoamerican civilizations. The

Maya dominated this region, and before them the

Olmec, Mexico’s oldest culture as well as the first to

make use of cacao as a drink for the society’s elite.

The tradition passed to the Maya and the Aztecs,

who used it as a ceremonial and medicinal drink.

The Mexican Indain word “chocolate” comes from

combing the Mayan word “xocoatl” and the Aztec

word “cacahuatl” meaning “water” and “foam.”

MISSION: The World Cocoa Founda-

tion supports a sustainable cocoa economy

through economic and social development

and environmental conservation in cocoa

growing communities.

Millions of small, family farms grow cocoa in equato-

rial regions around the world. For many cocoa farm-

ers, the crop is a major source of income for their

families and their communities. Yet each year, they

face significant challenges ranging from crop loss due

to pests and diseases (on average, 30 percent annu-

ally), limited access to the latest farming practices, and

other cocoa farming issues.

The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) was formed in

2000 to address these issues. Today, it plays a leading

role in helping cocoa farming families by developing

and managing effective, on-the-ground programs,

raising funds and acting as a forum for broad

discussion of the cocoa farming sector’s needs. Its

nearly 60 member companies support the Founda-

tion financially and through active participation in its

efforts.

These efforts are enhanced through “public private

partnerships” organized between the WCF or its

members, and a range of interested institutions. The

combination of public and private expertise brings

real benefits to farmers and their families.

In addition, WCF member companies contribute

their valuable expertise in cocoa farming and related

issues. Based in Washington D.C., the WCF has a staff

of professionals, with in-depth experience in agricul-

tural, sustainable development and rural economic

issues, led by WCF president Bill Guyton.

WCF is a non-profit organization.

The World Cocoa Foundation programs are based on

four key principles:

• Long-term solutions matter more than quick fixes.

• Partnerships drive success.

• Community involvement is essential.

• The chocolate industry plays a key role.

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Fiera Chocolate Like Festive Fire Fiera Chocolate captures the passion and spirit of Mexican culture.

The name Fiera means “spitfire” in Spanish, and is also used to describe a

wild woman or can simply mean “festive fire.” To taste Fiera Chocolate with its

generous amount of cinnamon and chile powder balanced with smooth, sweet,

natural vanilla is like sparks shooting up from a from a lively fire.

Each of Fiera’s products are created by combining dark chocolate, natural va-

nilla extract, raw sugar, cinnamon, and finely ground almonds for an authentic

Mexican flavor. As a special addition we also infuse chile powder into all of our

products. Fiera Sipping Chocolate is a cocoa powder drink, reminiscent of an

ancient Aztec hot chocolate recipe, used for ceremonial and medicinal pur-

poses. Our Gourmet Chocolates are sure to give a decadent boost of energy and

vitality. They have a rich, spicy flavor and creamy texture, as well as a 60% cacao

content and ground nibs sprinkled on top of each chocolate. The Raw Choco-

late Bark bar, Fiera’s speciality item, contains a strong 75% cacao content, and

has large pieces of cacao nibs mixed into the dark chocolate.

Fiera Chocolate is rich, spicy, and invigorating-much like Mexico’s own cul-

ture. People of Mexico are warm and vivacious with a true passion for life and

love. Fiera Chocolate conveys this energy, warmth, and vitality with our special

confectionary recipe full of spice and rich, dark chocolate. Fiera Chocolate

products make great romantic gifts, especially our Gourmet Chocolates.

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Fiera Chocolate provides products are not expensive. Many people of

Mexico are not wealthy in assets, but are still wealthy in spirit, and many

have large families to provide for. We want to bring this traditional yet

dynamic recipe to those who will enjoy it the most.

Fiera Chocolate uses the finest in cacao and cacao nibs grown in Vil-

lahermosa, located in the state of Tobasco, the heart of ancient lowland

Mayan civilization. Villahermosa is located just an hour outside of

Comalcalco, Tobasco where large cacao fermentation facilities reside.

These facilities assist in efforts to strengthen the cacao industry and to

alleviate extreme poverty in southern Mexico. Our farmers grow cacao

on a private plantation and sun dry each and every bean, then bring

them here to be fermented.

Fiera Chocolate distributes its products annually at fiestas all over

Mexico. Of course, our biggest event being The Cacao Fiesta San Isidro

de Labrador in Tabasco. We also distribute our products annually such

as the Fiesta of the Virgin of Guadeloupe and the Mexico City Christ-

mas Festival. We also sell our chocolate at Los Reyes Magos, the Festival

of San Jose, Mexican Independence Day, and the Cancun Carnival.

Chocolate products can also be found in North America as well, where

imported chocolates are sold. Our products can also be found online

at: www.fierachocolate.com

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FIERA CHOCOLATE PRODUCTS

Fiera Chocolate offers features three different chocolate

products in our gourmet selection. All products are made

with at least 60 % cacao. We use a traditional Mexican choco-

late recipe, created by combining:

dark chocolate

natural vanilla

raw sugar

cinnamon

finely ground almonds.

In addition, all of our products contain cacao nibs and just

the right amount of chile powder, to give our chocolate and

our consumers an extra special lift.

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Photo credit by Nicholas Hill

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GOURMET CHOCOLATES

Fiera Gourmet Chocolates have a

60% cacao content. They have a

sweet, and slightly spicy Mexi-

can chocolate flavor and creamy

texture, composed of dark choco-

late, natural vanilla, cinnamon,

and chile powder. For a special

touch, they are sprinkled all over

with finely ground cacao nibs.

These chocolates provide a natu-

ral boost of energy. They come in

a small decorative box and make a

wonderful treat for parties and a

great romantic chocolate gift.

Photo credit by Nicholas Hill

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Photo credit by Nicholas Hill

SIPPING CHOCOLATE

Fiera Sipping Chocolate is cre-

ated from a traditional Mexican

hot chocolate recipe with the ad-

diton of chile powder and finely

ground nibs for a sweet, invigo-

rating drink.

Our sipping chocolate is made by

combining rich cocoa powder,

raw sugar, vanilla, cinnamon,

finely ground almonds and cacao

nibs, and a hint of chile powder.

To make our spicy hot chocolate,

simply add the contents of one

packet of sipping chocolate to

one cup of hot whole milk, stir,

and enjoy!.

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RAW CHOCOLATE BARK BAR

Fiera’s Raw Chocolate Bark bar is the

purest form offered of our special choco-

late recipe. Containing 75% cacao, this

bar posesses the richest chocolate flavor

of any of our products.

Like all of our products, our Raw Choco-

late Bark is made by combining authentic

Mexican flavor with the invigorating spice

of nibs and chile powder. We use dark,

bittersweet chocolate and cacao nibs,

raw sugar, pure vanilla extract, ground

almonds, cinnamon and chile powder.

The result is a bold, specialty chocolate

bar with an truly Mexican chocolate flavor

enhanced by an ancient Mayan tradition

of adding chile to chocolate.

The Raw Chocolate Bark bar broken into pieces to show texture.

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Photo credit by Nicholas Hill

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When I first began designing the logo for Fiera

Chocolate I wanted to stay true to a Mexican

cultural look and feel and wasn’t as concerned

about catering to my chosen direction and audi-

ence. These explorations show big, block letters

and primitive art style icons native to Mexico.

After I discovered that the block lettering wasn’t

working for my company vision, which relies

heavily on passion and liveliness, I began explor-

ing more hand-drawn and script style fonts. I

wanted to make the logo appear more natural

and elegant.

LOGO IDEATIONS

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These are icon explorations that I paired with logo

text from the facing page. I chose to use organic

shapes to communicate the vivacious, passionate

vision for Fiera Chocolate. I tried circular shapes

paired with historic Mexican pattern styles to stay

true to the cultural art.

These are the final logo choices for Fiera Choco-

late. I tried a hand-drawn font and after altering

the text I saw that this font had the vision I was

trying to achieve. The movement of the letters and

sharp, fiery points say “spitfire” and the F itself

dances alone to the tune of, “like festive fire.”

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COLOR INSPIRATIONS

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Color is everywhere in Mexico.

Street and market, food and

dress, home and garden are satu-

rated with it. The colors come

from nature-green of cactus and

lime, blue of water and sky, red

of tomato, chile peppers, and

the bullfighter’s cape, orange of

marigolds, pink of Hibiscus and

Flamingo, and gold of the sun,

the Aztec calender.

In Mexico, every color goes with

every other color. This visual

affluence stems from Mexicans’

comfort with chance, luck, and

fortune. It is what artist Chucho

Reyes refers to as, “an adventure

of disorder.”

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Excerpt on photo collage, pages 24-25:

Cohan, Masako Takahashi, and Melba Levick. Mexicolor. San Fransisco: Chronicle Books, 1998

All photos are credited by various Internet sources, except as noted:

All Fiera Chocolate product photos by Nicholas Hill, 2008 - Mt. Hood Community College Integrated

Media program-Digital Photography divison.

Photo collage credit, pages 24-25:

Holmes, Amanda, Elena Poniatowska. Mexican Color. New York: Stewart Tabori & Chang, 1998

Photo credit by Amanda Holmes.

Melba Levick, Masako Takahashi: Mexicolor.

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