La Candela is the label of a small family-owned olive estate in Tuscany located thirty minutes’ drive south of Pisa. From their orchard of nearly three hundred trees the family extract quality olive oil that the world has come to love as one of the quintessential Tuscan products; warm, fragrant, earthy and unctuous.

The owner contacted Bonsey Design to create new design for his labels that would integrate his family crest with the description of the product. We were thrilled to receive this commission as it gave our design team the opportunity to explore the language of traditional Italian product design. Our work with Nestle and P&G has not always allowed delicate craft skills to evolve in the way that designers crave. With La Candela we have been able to scratch that itch to great effect.

The La Candela crest, inspired by the owner’s signet ring, was carefully redrawn to ensure durability for gold foil printing. For the brand lettering, we chose quirky, serifed letterforms with gold detailing to reflect the traditional essence of olive oil. The unique “L” and “C” evoke the charm of early 20th-century lettering artists. To enhance character and shelf appeal, our Design Director selected a teal and aqua background for the brand mark, a distinctive choice that complements the product’s deep green tones. This unusual combination adds to the individuality of the presentation.

The glass bottle, sourced locally from a nearby town, takes its design inspiration from a traditional Roman amphora, giving the brand a design that echoes the glorious past of the ancient civilisations who harvested olives from the same hillsides and squeezed their oils in the same way, thousands of years before.