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Thought process: Reasoning behind character and ideas.

I wanted to explore designs that truly represented Whittaker’s brand and its values. Whittaker’s can be described as a ¨luxury¨ brand due to its aesthetics, and detailed packaging, with its golden tones that create a feeling of quality. This really inspired me to come up with different characters with a cartoonish style that could represent a company of such standard as well as being relatable and loved by the New Zealand audience.

My design choices varied from having J. H Whittakers as an icon to having a Kea bird, but the one symbol that stood out to me was the Kiwi bird. In the end, I decided to explore shapes and poses in order to come up with a design that I liked and knew that could represent the brand's values.

Whittaker’s ‘Artisan’ pattern was a high source of inspiration for me as I find the pattern to be beautifully elegant, so I know from the start that I wanted to incorporate on my final design. Once my ideas and concepts narrowed down, ‘Jamie the Kiwi’ came to life as the main character/ mascot for the company.  With ‘Jamie the Kiwi’ I was able to add the ‘Artisan’ pattern that I loved, I decided to add it as a pattern for the sweater that ‘Jamie the Kiwi’ uses. I also decided to include a bow in order to represent J.H Whittakers’ iconic bow tie.

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Jamie the Kiwi incorporated into Whittaker’s website- Mockup

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Final design of Jamie the Kiwi. 

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Final development ideas for chosen characters. I decided to incorporate the known artisan pattern that Whittaker’s uses on the packaging for their chocolate blocks. I find these patterns to be very luxurious and quite unique so I wanted to add it so it could be a key element on the design.

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Developed concept thumbnail sketches of chosen characters. I wanted to play around with the character’s poses to see what effect it will create, I have also added costumes such as the sweater for the kiwi and the chocolate bar for the drawing of J. H Whittaker.

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Thumbnail of first mascot ideas. I will be developing further both the kiwi and the drawing of J. H Whittaker as I believe those are the strongest symbols that will represent the brand effectively. 

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Artisan pattern recreation. Element to be incorporated on final mascot design.

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Whittaker’s Target Audience

The company’s target audience is anyone who enjoys quality chocolate. Their strong kiwi values create a relatable feeling within New Zealand’s community, therefore young children and even mature adults can enjoy their finest products. 

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Mood board

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Whittakers: Brand Values Analysis

One of Whittaker’s principal values is being able to craft New Zealand's finest chocolate. This makes the brand a high-quality company in which you can trust, as you know they will be delivered the best of the best. Most of Whittaker’s branding consists of warm tones, especially gold details. This is to represent the ‘luxury’ of the brand and its products. Whittaker’s is also known for being sustainable and ethical, which is something that at this moment in time, is highly important as our planet is facing a climate change crisis. Whittakers’ cocoa beans are brought from the ‘Ghana Cocoa Board’ which ensures that the cocoa industry is conducted in a socially responsible manner. They also make sure to use only 100% renewable energy sources of wind and water. As Whittakers is a 100% own kiwi company, one of their values is to help protect New Zealand’s native wildlife. They support the widely known charity ‘Kiwis for kiwi’, which is committed to growing the populations of the iconic native bird, the kiwi. Every chocolate kiwi sold contributes 20 cents to help this charity and their work. Other two organisations that Whittakers has proudly support are the ‘Breast Cancer Foundation’ and ‘Starship Children’s Hospital’. For both of these organisation, Whittakers has arranged campaigns in order to raise funds to contribute to their causes.