| CHEF’N PRODUCT PHOTOGRAPHY FOR PACKAGING | Art Direction & Graphic Design

CLIENT: Chef’n DTC customers, Retailers, Wholesalers, and Amazon

ROLE: Art Director & Graphic Design

DELIVERABLES: Packaging artwork ready for print, compliance-approved photography, and asset families that scaled across SKUs. This ensures consistency from studio to shelf and across online and offline environments

TEAM: Producer: Shelley McCracken, Photographer: Ryan Castoldi, Model: Carly Hood

PROCESS: Directing Chef’n in-studio shoots for various packaging artwork needs, product instructions, and display images intended for packaging hang cards, boxes, inserts, and CDUs.

Sweet Spot Fondue Set

Working closely with the copy and compliance team, directions on how to use the product were created.

From there I create a shotlist that includes all images needed. On top of the normal information such as angle, written description, props, and estimated time. I also included “in-use” references — showing hands interacting with the product — so the photographer and talent could visualize what the image needed to communicate. This keeps the shoot efficient and aligned with both design goals and production realities.

One of my key visual priorities was hierarchy — making sure the product identity, use case, and packaging cues read clearly at first glance. That means lighting choices that highlight the product surfaces, framing that preserves legibility, and compositions that avoid visual clutter. These decisions support scan-ability, which is crucial in both e-commerce and retail environments.

SweetSpot by Chef’n is a more higher-end and giftable product line compared to the baseline Chef’n brand. With that in mind, packaging when displayed would have two “fronts” so depending upon the holiday, cheese or chocolate could be showcased.

Packaging Images and Dielines