Aronia berry jelly

Packaging Design & Product Photography

A personal project inspired by my love for trying new foods and creative projects. My goal for this work was to try my hand at jelly making, and create a package with a personal touch.

What Are Aronia Berries?

Photo by NordWood Themes on Unsplash

Aronia berries, also known as chokeberries, are a fruit native to eastern North America. The berries are very bitter or sour, but taste better when processed into wine, syrup, juice, or in this case, jam! They are often mistakenly called chokecherries, which grow on small trees, while chokeberries grow on bushes.

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I’m just about as thrifty as I am creative, so when I found an ad on Facebook Marketplace back in late 2020 for some free chokeberries, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity for a free food experiment!

THE STORY:

Him and his wife had loved aronia berry jelly when they lived out east, and had purchased a bush for their front lawn, in hopes of making their own. However, the process was so much work they did it once and never again.

I met a man named Gord.

I spent hours and hours picking bitter, pea-sized berries, juicing them, cooking them, canning them, and praying the jelly would set. After all that work I was left with six jars of runny syrup and no jelly.

So I gave it a try!

I finally worked up the courage to try again, and with a bit of tweaking I succeeded in a thick, dark, spiced jelly. Christmas was just around the corner, so I decided to design jars to gift to my friends—and Gord.

The canned syrup sat in my cupboard for a whole year.

success!

I had just enough jars left over to take some photos! This project definitely took a lot of time and work, but it was a lot of fun to make and share with my friends.

make your own jelly!

Packaging Design

The inspiration for the label design was rooted in minimalist design and paired with hand drawn illustration.

Professional Label - for commercial sale

Personal Label - for gifting to friends

The design was purposely left greyscale to allow for the subtle jewel tones of the deep red jelly to shine through.

Lid Seal

Product Photography

Once again, the goal of the photography was to allow the stark white background to act as a blank canvas for the jelly, since the colour is so deep that much of its nuance could be lost otherwise.

The props are meant to match the minimalist yet sophisticated handmade inspiration; the natural wood tones, marble and knit cloth, and the red-stained silver spoon.