8 hours with 15,000 pieces of Candy – Willy Wonka Poster

“We’ve always been told that we shouldn’t play with our food.”

UI designers, web design specialists and creatives alike are always trained that users “eat with their eyes”, but this takes it to a whole new level.

To mark the 50th anniversary of Roald Dahl’s deliciously delightful novel ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, online magazine Don’t Panic teamed up with Sam Mendes’ gigantic new stage musical to invite designers around the world to create a commemorative poster that would be used to celebrate the huge event. Having been reinvented multiple times for stage and screen, not to mention littering everyday language with a host of new images and phrases, the competition was looking for a poster that would combine the the nostalgia nature of the characters that we have all come to know and love whilst bringing out the playful humour of the story, maintaining the brand of the production. Like kids in a candy store, armed with over 20 extra-large boxes of Nerds, we channeled our inner Oompa-Loompa and pulled together a small team for this chewy challenge. 

Our designers, web developers and illustrators created a nostalgic icon of Willy Wonka, infused with a sweet modern twist. Taking a step away from our traditional online ways, this offline final piece spanned an epic 1.5 metre high x 1 metre wide! With 8 hours and over 15,000 pieces of painstakingly hand-separated candies, even Charlie himself wouldn’t be able to resist this tantalizing temptation. And though we still don’t know who won the competition as no official announcement was ever made, we enjoyed a “healthy” dose of sweet sweet eye candy and are extremely proud of our tasty masterpiece!

PS: No teeth were harmed in the making of this piece.