Quatre Mains
Station Donk Kronekalseide 278
9990
Belgium
003250406300
Employees: 11 – 50
www.quatremains.be/en
Beverages Body Concept Food Other Markets
About

Quatre Mains. When four hands come together, their sum breaks all barriers.
The harmonious duet of Els Goethals and Patrick De Grande, which grew out of a love relationship for Design, Packaging and each other, resulted in a perfect Quatre Mains.
This spirit of collaboration has shaped the passionate and multi-award-winning agency that welcomes and cherishes creative challenges with open arms. The essence of why we all get up in the morning. With a generous hand we try to mold and bake creativity into impactful solutions for our customers. Whether it's brand owners, producers, distributors or private labels, we embrace what we find especially fun and interesting for those we love most. Whatever the challenge, big or small, we do everything we can.
Being a loving bedmate to our customers sounds a bit kinky, but without a portion of healthy curiosity and dedication we could never live up to the high standard of quality that our creative approach promises.
This extreme drive and creative courage is shared by our eclectic team of like-minded QM'ers. A team of ready-made, packaging-obsessed design lovers, hidden in a former train station and a charming hotel in the middle-of-nowhere, keep our fingers on the pulse of this international business that we are now madly in love with . #wearepackaging

Portfolio
Oxfam Fairtrade

Bite to Fight for a Fair Income! Time for a fresh wind to blow through Oxfam Fair Trade. A conscious decision was made by our client to reconnect with their roots and reawaken their passion for positive activism and meaningful change. Reality shows that current fair trade efforts are not sufficient, with still many farmers in developing countries, living in poverty, unable to make a fair income that supports a fair standard of living. Using the re-launch of the chocolate bar range as a platform to help re-address priorities, Oxfam wishes to reset a higher standard of commitment that hopefully other fair trade brands will follow. Go that Extra Mile! Our approach was one of effective activation at shelf. We used the packaging design as a campaign slogan to help bring a strong, clear, positive message that crystallises for consumers how their purchase helps benefit others less fortunate than ourselves. Priorities of normal chocolate product communication were completely reversed so as to open the way for our slogan to shout-out as loud as it could. We employed a poster style typographic approach, coupled with that tear-away effect that you often see in street advertising so as to reveal the real chocolate underneath. Supported by a solidarity icon and fresh, impactful but natural colours, these packs are designed to make an unmissable statement. So as to help better articulate our commitment to fair trade for farmers, we utilised the inside of the pack to tell the real story behind the promise. Every little helps.

Sienna & Friends

Adventures for Little Foodies! Many brand stories begin with a consumer dilemma. As many parents will tell you, getting their little loved ones to experience new tastes and textures can be quite a challenge. The sooner you start the better, however a child’s delicate palette can be sensitive to taste sensations and parents are often discouraged to help their child try something new. Our client understood this dilemma first hand and always dreamt of bringing a brand and product family to market that empowered parents by providing adventurous taste experiences, tailor-made for little foodies at the beginning of their mealtime explorations. Storytelling at the heart of all creative brands. To provide a powerful platform for this brand to grow, a story needed to be told. Therefore in order to tie together the collection of new taste discoveries with this parent child relationship, the wide world of Sienna & Friends was created. The brand name encapsulated the brands main character and her desire to share the multitude of flavour adventures she’s collected during her journeys. Through travelling the world and making many friends along the way who also wished to share their inspiring recipes, this story forms the foundation of the product portfolio. From adventurous spice-mixes to super tasty sauces, from surprising jams to comforting soups. This plus feel-good snacks, olive oils, healthy porridges and fun pastas. A world of aromas, textures, tastes and flavours, each with their unique origin and each accompanied by a playful friend. Introducing the likes of Chica, Tomatina, Canella, Herbie and little Coco, Sienna and her many foodie friends create a playful community of fun loving characters to charm the hearts of parents and children everywhere. Take a journey around the pack. Our approach to the packaging identity was simple. Each product had a story to be told and a journey to be explored. Supporting the travel tag inspired branding and product info, we illustrated each design with delightful characters and invite consumers to travel around the pack, following a recipe trail of discovery. Product family diversity is balanced with branding unity, working together to provide a brand building platform that makes a real consumer connection and helps bring our clients dream to life. “Every bite is a memory and the most powerful memories are the first ones.”

Jeroen Meus

A ‘personality’ branded range of pots and pans. Jeroen Meus is a famous Belgian chef, passionate about food and bringing the concept of cooking in an inspirational and approachable manner to the people at home. His no-nonsense rock’n roll attitude, his hilarious one-liners and his unstoppable drive make him one of the most loved personalities in Belgium. We were asked to create an identity for his new range pots and pans which could reflect this unique personality. So we created an iconic brand image of Jeroen in its purest form, a black stamped stencil portrait illustration on a honest craft paper background. We visualized Jeroen in a way everyone knows him, with his everlasting smile, his nonchalant hairdo and his roguish glance, evoking his rock’n roll attitude and easy going way of life. In his own words we then let his character do the talking, using his typical humoristic one-liners to bring the news to pack in an eye-catching and iconic manner. Communication is key, his voice is his brand! This branded emotional approach, the bold rough typo and the black and white graphics enriched with flashy fluo colour details on craft paper, make for an outstanding design in a category dominated by traditional ‘what-you-see-is-what-you-get’ packaging. Who’s up for a “wok around the clock”?

Chocolates from Heaven

Klingele Chocolade is a family owned business situated in the beautiful city of Ghent. They’re a leading producer and supplier of healthy and honest chocolates made with respect for people and nature. They are passionate about quality and selecting the right ingredients to bring you only the best. Their organic Belgian chocolates are made with no added sugar because they believe that it’s not the sugar that makes the chocolate delightful, but the ingredients. It’s in nature where they find their inspiration to deliver you the most delightfully wholesome chocolates. Our brief was to redesign their existing Green Dream - Chocolates range with a focus on the pleasure of treating yourself, guilt free. We turned their former baseline into a real brand name and utilised ‘Chocolates from Heaven’ to transport us to a world of pleasure. The dreamy surreal illustrations create an imaginary world that allow us to dream of ‘heavenly’ flavours. Every detail is designed to bring a smile to your face, inspired by our world famous Belgian surrealistic painters like Magritte. The tactile wrapper and hot-foil finishes enhance the feeling of craftsmanship, honest ingredients and premium quality. Our messenger dove brand mascot and stamp like label, convey a delicious chocolate message, sent straight from heaven. We don’t know about you, but we’ve definitely got our heads in the clouds.

Algo-Ritme by Kenyio

Algo-Ritme is a brand whose origins lie deep in the Volta Valley in Ghana where they strive to build a bridge between local African commerce and culture with European health and wellbeing. Through purely naturally cultivated spirulina supplements, the Algo-Ritme brand wishes to position itself as the premium, talk-of-the-town reference in this ever-growing category. ‘Algo’ refers to micro-algae that forms spirulina with ‘Ritme’ reflecting the natural rhythm’s inherent in our body’s wellbeing. It’s these natural rhythms between Ghana and Europe, between spirulina and our health and this brand and its respect for the environment where it is cultivated, that sets the tone for the Algo-Ritme brand and packaging identity. The rhythm inspired wavelength symbol acts as a flexible logo device that in turn helps divide and connect the dual aspect of the brand name. In harmony with the intense deep green brand colour, a Ghanaian inspired ‘Kente’ fabric pattern was also created, interwoven with the wavelength symbol and integrated behind a Volta river shaped organic form. The hot-foil gold brand colour helps accentuate the premium nature of the brand whilst supporting the products unique properties. From display case to refill pot and pouch, the Algo-Ritme brand looks to actively support local communities whilst standing out from the supplement crowd and help transport a touch of truly natural Ghanaian culture across the sea and into our homes.

Omer

Omer stands for 5 generations of brewing traditions whereby not only the craftsmanship but also the family name has been passed down from father to son. From 1892 the name Omer has been synonymous with quality, with the words ‘Omer Vander Ghinste’ integrated into pub stained glass windows, becoming a classic icon in the Belgian beer world. In 2020 Omer wished to treat their loyal consumers with an outstanding new Omer glass and matching packaging. Each glass manufactured as a limited edition with the packaging feeling like a true collector’s item. The box shape was purposefully inspired by the iconic Omer glass. Silver detailing and a purely branded stained-glass-inspired closing sleeve, give this collector’s item an exclusive, desirable image. For true Omer connaisseurs ;-)

Duvel

‘Duvels’ Design, Heavenly Taste! Once again, a dream has come true to be honoured with the opportunity to make an impact on a truly iconic and world-renowned Belgian brand such as Duvel. Duvel as we know is the flagship brand from the Duvel Moortgat independent family brewery, whose almost 150 years brewing expertise has helped establish this exceptional Belgian specialty beer as an unmissable part of real Belgian culture. However, despite this legendary status, Duvel as many other beer brands has felt the increasing pressure from an ever growing and competitive market, which displays an overwhelming choice for beer consumers today. Feeling the squeeze, the brand felt it was the right time to undertake a refreshing brand makeover, that would enable Duvel to remain contemporary and relevant in today’s ever evolving beer market and to ensure a connection with newer and younger generations of beer lovers.

Marsel

Zoutman is an independent Belgian family firm, specialised in producing and processing (sea) salt. For a specific retail range ‘Marsel’, containing nature's best sea salt, they asked Quatre Mains for a new straightforward design. First, we refined the Marsel brand, creating a modern logotype and allowing the fisherman’s boat the space it needs. By placing the boat on top and adding a brand communication baseline, we created an immediate link to the salts origin. A playful, marine stripe design shows us the difference between the salt types. A grungy white wooden look reflects the experienced craftsmanship Zoutman has displayed for many years. A simple design whose strength is in showing only what is truly necessary. Less is more.

Niamh

Niamh Authentic World Bakery. Niamh is a new player in the world of bread and baking mixes. They create high-quality baking mixes inspired by the world’s great cuisines. They are always in search of new flavours to let their consumers explore their own creativity, trying breads with endless variations. Niamh asked us to create a branding and packaging design for their new ethnic range. Niamh's brief for us, was to primarily create a baking concept that tells a story of origin and authenticity. They wanted a home-baking, innovative, qualitative look and feel. Travel the Baking World Our idea was to present Niamh as an authentic world bakery. As every nation has its cultural traditions and personality, Niamh provided the platform that celebrated those unique bakers and their characters. Sharing the same purpose around the world and honouring their ethnic & traditional baking recipes. As we travel we experience an eclectic range of diverse flavours & scents, creating memories and enticing the taste buds wherever we go. Niamh brings the world we experience elsewhere, back home. For each pack we personalized the product origins through an illustration of a local Italian, Indian, Russian,…baker. A quirky character that proudly presents their country’s authentic specialty. As home baking is fun, so is our approach to the ethnic aspect of this packaging. Bring those world flavours back home and try out some Indian Naan, Italian Focaccia, Russian Blini’s or Turkish Pide. Because after all, homemade food is twice as good!

Dream for Natra

Share your dreams Natra Jacali is a world renowned and respected player in the business of high quality Belgian chocolates. These master Belgian chocolate makers were looking to make an unforgettable impression on the international market and prestigious food-fair competitions by developing an innovative pralines limited edition assortment. Our challenge was to create jaw-dropping wonder and surprise through the development of a premium chocolate creative platform, the packaging identity and pralines themselves. Inspired by the often hypnotizing desire for chocolate, we invited consumers to travel inside our delicious dream-world, that opens to a surreal but intoxicating taste experience. This immersive experience begins with the opening of our deco Dream lady face-shaped assortment box, where we dive deep into her dream-world where pralines are discovered, almost camouflaged in its depths. In this extraordinary hidden world, consumers are invited to explore exciting flavors such as yuzu compote, lavender, gin and rosemary or even macadamia or pistachio. These captivating chocolate pralines are also decorated with our designs using innovative ‘mold-printing’ techniques. A limited edition where deep desires truly come to life and a product promise reflected by a chocolate experience that is a thing of fantasy. A sweet dream you never want to wake up from.

Braeckman Genever

A mysterious Genever range. The Braeckman family has for approximately 100 years been one of Belgium’s finest genever distillers. Based on only the purest raw material, this juniper berry, grain spirit has formed a fundamental part of traditional Belgian and Dutch beverage culture for generations. After countless years of quality and success, the Belgian genever category was in decline, often overshadowed by the ever growing gin and vodka trends. Realizing fundamental change was needed, the Braeckman family briefed us to totally rejuvenate and invigorate their classics genever range and to leave the old fashioned dusty image far behind. After immersing ourselves in the respected Braeckman heritage we decided to tell a romantic legendary story with each product, each inspired by mythical tales of intrigue and origin. From the family patriarch figure of ‘Old Braeckman’ where it all began to the dark and curious ‘Hen Thief’ who’s midnight movements are a mystery to all. ‘The Blue Pigeon’ is a prime example of how fable meets fact, this eccentric bird who selects only the finest juniper berries for this unique blend. These thick quill ink sketches on parchment labels are accompanied by inspiring cocktail recipes and quirky quotes, designed to attract the hip and trendy to our rich and mysterious genever range.

Winning Work
Company Contact
Mr Patrick De Grande
Creative farmer
Social Profiles