02 — Self-initiated brief · Sallowmere, 2026

The Longest Night.
A gifting system.

Self-initiated brief / Fictional brand

Brief
Self-initiated brief: a Christmas gift range for Sallowmere, an invented London candle & home-fragrance house — designed with UK premium department-store gifting in mind, where a pack has three seconds on shelf and a second life under the tree.
My role
Naming, identity, packaging architecture and dielines, art direction of the packshots, campaign key visual, newsletter and social.
Outcome
Self-initiated — not a client commission. Four SKUs, two fully specified dielines and a launch kit across email and social.
The Sallowmere range: rigid gift box, candle carton, votive trio and gift bag in matt moss green with ember-orange moon windows and gold moon phases
Year — 2026 · Personal project · Fictional brand

Concept

Dark outside. Glowing within.

The range is built on the winter solstice — the longest night of the year. Every pack is matt moss green outside; a die-cut moon opens onto an ember-orange lining, so the glow is the reveal. A gold moon-phase row runs across the range, from new moon on the carton to full moon on the gift set.

  • Moss#1E2A24
  • Ember#C8502E
  • Parchment#F1E8D8
  • Sage#AEBDB3
  • Gilt#B89A5E
  • Ink#121614
  • Fraunces Light — wordmark & headlines
  • Inter Medium — information & legal
Sallowmere candle carton in moss green with a gold moon-phase row, beside the lit candle
Candle carton
Technical dieline of the reverse tuck-end candle carton
Dieline — RTE carton 95 × 95 × 110 mm
Technical dieline of the rigid gift-box lid wrap with the circular moon window
Dieline — rigid lid wrap 306 × 226 × 40 mm

Identity · Palette · Type · Candle carton · Dielines (RTE carton 95 × 95 × 110 mm, rigid lid wrap 306 × 226 × 40 mm)

The range

Packaging architecture — four SKUs, one moon-phase system.

  1. 01 · Gift set

    Rigid lid box

    306 × 226 × 40 mm lid · Ø120 mm moon window · candle, diffuser, matches

  2. 02 · Candle

    Reverse tuck-end carton

    95 × 95 × 110 mm · 350 gsm FSC board · gold hot-foil

  3. 03 · Votive trio

    Sleeve & tray

    240 × 90 × 75 mm · moss sleeve slides off an ember tray

  4. 04 · Gift bag

    Paper gift bag

    260 × 110 × 320 mm · ember grosgrain handles

Open Sallowmere gift set: rigid box with ember lining holding a candle, diffuser and matches
Gift set
Votive trio: moss sleeve sliding off an ember tray holding three small candles
Votive trio
Moss-green Sallowmere paper gift bag with ember grosgrain handles
Gift bag

AI-generated concept renders

Campaign

Light the longest night.

Key visual, lifestyle scene, Christmas newsletter (600 px-wide email) and social in 4:5, 9:16 and 1:1 — the ember circle carries from pack to screen.

Campaign key visual: a lit Sallowmere candle in front of a large ember circle on a dark background
Key visual
Lifestyle scene: hands opening a Sallowmere gift on a wooden table by candlelight
Lifestyle
Sallowmere Christmas newsletter, 600 px-wide email
Newsletter (scroll to read)
Sallowmere feed post (4:5)
Feed 1080×1350
Sallowmere story (9:16)
Story 1080×1920
Sallowmere square post showing the votive trio
Post 1080×1080