Sustainable Packaging
Wildings
Your Forest Pantry
A sustainable, BC-based line of jams and nut butters that uses storybook-inspired packaging and character-driven storytelling to build a deeper connection to local food.
The Challenge
Sustainable shouldn't have to look generic
Eco-friendly food packaging has settled into a familiar visual shorthand, and most of it blends together on the shelf. It signals "sustainable" without ever saying where the food actually came from. Wildings answers that sameness with story: a brand that earns a real connection to local food instead of just labelling itself green.
The Approach
A tiny forest world, told like a storybook
The idea of "tiny scale" became the heart of the concept. Wildings imagines a secret society of tiny forest folk who live in fruit- and nut-shaped homes, like blueberry domes and hazelnut huts, and handcraft each jam and nut butter from whatever the season offers. The name comes from these little "wildings," the makers behind every jar, and small scale doubles as the brand's ethic: gentle harvesting, taking only what you need, and minimal waste.
That story drives the whole system. Each label reads like a page from an illustrated storybook, turning every ingredient into a place to live. The finished identity spans a logo and mascot, a full label suite, custom illustrations, nutrition panels, and print-ready files, all built to honour the BC growers and seasonal harvests behind the product.
Illustrations
Each ingredient becomes a home
The illustrations turn each ingredient into a tiny place to live. For the strawberry rhubarb jam, the strawberry becomes a small forest nook with stairs, windows, and a door built into its form, while the rhubarb grows quietly beside it as part of the scene.
Every label follows the same logic: the main ingredient becomes the home, the secondary one is woven into the surrounding details. The result feels imaginative and storybook-like while still showing clearly what each jar contains.
Welcome to the enchanted world of Wildings: a handcrafted line of jams and nut butters made in collaboration with local BC growers and a secret society of tiny forest folk who dwell in fruit- and nut-shaped homes. Each ingredient is sourced with intention and told through a character-rich story: who picked it, where it grew, what season it ripened, and how it was stirred into something magical. Lovingly gathered, respectfully made, and sustainably shared.
Storytelling
Tiny forest folk and the squirrel guide
The name Wildings comes from the idea of tiny forest folk living deep in the BC forest. These characters inhabit the ingredient illustrations, gathering what the land offers and carrying the brand's values of care, locality, and respect for the seasons.
The squirrel mascot became the main guide into this world, and it went through a lot of iterations to get there. Refining it meant testing different shades of brown, moving the tail forward and back, and finally adding the small jar of jam that ties the mascot to the product. The finished character ships with several lockups and variations so it can flex across packaging, labels, and smaller touchpoints.
Reflection
What I'm most proud of
The strongest part of Wildings is the storytelling and concept development: building a complete miniature world that makes sustainability feel personal instead of preachy. The message lives in that idea of small, local living. Every jam and nut butter is made from locally sourced, in-season harvests, and the "take only what you need" ethos runs through the entire visual system.