I wanted this candle packaging to feel like an experience before the candle is ever lit.

At San Maris, every detail is intentional, and this collaboration was especially personal. I worked closely with artist W.C. Cullen to create an original piece that lives on the box itself // art that folds, reveals, and transforms as you interact with it.

Packaging Design That Reveals Itself

At first glance, it withholds. A face is present, but not fully. Then the box opens, and the image gives itself away. Our text logo rests quietly in the corner, like a signature on the back of a painting. It's meant to feel like a discovery. Something hidden in plain sight, waiting for you to look twice.

The Eleggua Symbol: Openings, Pathways, Protection 

The front scent label, created by the design team at Tart NYC, is shaped like an Eleggua head, a symbol of openings, pathways, and protection in Yoruba and Santería tradition. There's no better guardian for a threshold than the one who rules them. That detail was designed with care and reverence. I worked hand-in-hand with Molly Bloom and Isabella to refine the structure, scale, and placement until the artwork, typography, and symbolism moved as one language.

For me, packaging is never just packaging.

It's storytelling. It's altar work. 

It's the first ritual.

Why Artist Collaboration Is at the Heart of San Maris

Collaboration is at the heart of how I build. I believe in growing alongside artists, creating space for their work to live, breathe, and be seen while San Maris evolves too. Every candle collection is an opportunity to pour into creative communities the same way they pour into this brand.

When we work together, it's not transactional // it's reciprocal.

We build each other

That will always be part of how I share these pieces, and part of every story I tell here.