By Jecca Berta

Our Advent Calendar takes a full year to put together. In addition to working with nearly two dozen chocolatiers across North America as well as with Dandelion Japan (a first this year), we also develop the creative concept, manage design and photography, and orchestrate all the individual components. Indica, Senior Design Manager; Georgia, Creative Lead; and Lauren, Senior Director of Product, join us to discuss this creative endeavor. It’s quite an undertaking. 

How did you land on this year’s theme of Nordic mythology?

Lauren: Over the past five years, we had explored Greco-Roman mythology as our main theme. And two years ago during the solar maximum (a peak period of solar activity), our Advent Calendar celebrated the Northern Lights. That’s when we began gaining exposure to the stories of the North and of Lapland, the polar region where it’s said Santa Claus is from. It’s a real area of intrigue. 

Our Advent Calendar has several components — packaging, photography, daily videos, stargazing, chocolates. How do you orchestrate the design?

Indica: I jumped on for the ride this year. I was never as involved in previous years. This is the first time I’ve worked with Lauren to understand what this process entails (Lauren has owned Advent Calendars since nearly the beginning). I’ve officially tacked my opinions onto everything.

Georgia: Indica is downplaying her role. You’ve always played a supporting design consultant role, but this year marks your more formalized involvement. You’ve always had a hand in the design. 

Lauren: You had the design vision. 

Indica: This year, I helped find the artist, was involved in concept development, and was much more involved in design decision-making. We made slight modifications to the ornaments to better showcase the artwork. Each year, we dream a little bigger, so we really keep adding to what we have done in the past. Much of the inspiration for the packaging came from [the artist] Lisa’s work and Scandinavian traditions.  

As for stargazing, chocolate, videos, and all the other components that make our visions a reality, we have a small but mighty, super collaborative team, and I’m grateful to work with them every day — a special shoutout to Georgia G., Nick Katkov, Dillon, Adrienne, and Mark.

Tell us how you found this year’s Advent artist, Lisa Grue.

Indica: I had been following Lisa Grue’s work for a few years and showed some of her designs to Lauren. I just thought her work was stunning. Lauren got in touch with Lisa, and we had a kickoff meeting. 

Lauren: We were so impressed with Lisa’s Nordic folk art style, and she was really excited to collaborate with us to share her perspective on those traditions and folktales of the North. 

Indica: And given that Lisa’s an artist from Copenhagen, it went well with our Scandinavian winter theme. On our first video call with her, it was so inspiring to see all the items she had actually made herself — the wallpaper behind her and bits of art. She has a print shop in the King’s Garden in Copenhagen and she also does printmaking classes. When it came to all the components and packaging, everything fit together like a little puzzle. She’s a multifaceted designer and artist and it was a perfect fit from the very beginning. 

How did you decide on the color theme for this year’s Calendar?

Lauren: We try to make the experience as different as possible each year. There’s always going to be a daily ritual, but we want to bring in new stories, new colors, new artwork. 

Indica: This year, we were really inspired by a Scandinavian winter’s night. We had this vision of silver on blue — almost like an icy frost with all those silver tones. And doing a two-color Advent Calendar [exterior box] is something we’d never done before; [they’ve previously been multicolored]. So the exterior is silver foil on a deep blue, and the interior [individual ornament boxes] have accents of a complementary green. The cooler tones work well together. It’s very different from last year’s Calendar, which had warm, red tones and lots of gold accents.

We also wanted to see what the exterior box design would look like printed on fabric. And that felt so exquisite. That was a first for us. It’s a really nice tactile experience too.

Lauren: In previous years, the top [of the exterior box] was rolled by a machine. This year it had to be handmade. It took us multiple tries to get the foil on the fabric right. It speaks to the tactile woven materials you might see in Scandinavia.  

We’ve been told many ribbon samples were sourced for this project. 

Georgia: We spent more time than we should have trying to get the perfect ribbon experience. 

Indica: At least twenty pieces of ribbon. 

Georgia: Two dozen ribbon samples from San Francisco, on top of some from overseas.

What about this year’s Nordic theme? How did you determine the 25 stories? 

Lauren: Initially I sit down and try to understand the subject matter to truly honor it. In this case, I really wanted to make sure we would speak faithfully and accurately to these different cultures whose stories we’re sharing. In that process, I ended up working with cultural experts through a number of museums across Iceland, Denmark, and the U.S. 

You also had to link those stories to the celestial science we share in the videos. 

Lauren: Right. The cultural experts I spoke with took a look at the material and gave direction and additional details. In the process, we were trying to determine who would be a good host this year, and we landed on Nordic astral-lore expert Thomas DuBois. He’s based out of Madison, Wisconsin, and is really knowledgeable in Scandinavian culture. 

Shoutout to my alma mater, University of Wisconsin, where Thomas teaches Nordic studies and folklore. 

Lauren: He’s had all these wild excursions as well. For years, he would herd reindeer in the Polar Circle. He consulted on Frozen II with Disney. For Advent, he helped us to better understand the region, and pushed to make sure we had representation of all these various cultures. 

He’s going to be a very fun host of our videos, which we filmed at the National Nordic Museum in Seattle. (He changes one element of his wardrobe every day.) And he’s fluent in several languages of the region: Swedish, Finnish, Sámi … Guests will get to hear some of that. 

Indica mentioned the storybook, which is new this year and has 25 Nordic tales. How did that evolve? 

Lauren: We knew we wanted to tell stories and go in a fairytale direction, because Scandinavia is an area where so many fairytales originate. And then Indica had an idea around bedtime stories.

Indica: We really wanted everyone to enjoy the ritual of eating the chocolate, reading the book, and experiencing the digital component — and to make it a cozy, holistic experience to enjoy for 25 nights.

Lauren: We like trying to create that fairytale moment during the holidays. 

Indica: Lisa’s art and storybooks were a huge part of this as well.

Lauren: As a children’s book author and illustrator, her experience was so helpful in creating this hardbound book. We’re really happy with it.

For those who have never photographed chocolates, what are the more difficult aspects? 

Indica: The Advent Calendar photoshoot is our biggest shoot of the year. We have a small creative team. Georgia and I style the props and products; I art direct, and Nick Katkov takes the photos (and provides a lot of laughs). We work closely with Lauren, Dillon, and Adrienne, who get everything buttoned up for us before we embark on a five-day photoshoot adventure. 

The most difficult part is probably getting all the shots we need, plus the bonus fun ones when we’re feeling very inspired, in a short time period. We love experimenting with different light, surfaces, and backdrops, and sometimes it feels like there just isn’t enough time for all of the ideas, but hey, constraints fuel creativity.

Given that we had all these cool tones, it felt natural that ice would be a huge part of the shoot. So we brainstormed some ideas. We wanted a frosty look and wanted to showcase the chocolates on blocks of ice. We used crystals from Paxton Gate [a curiosities shop on Valencia Street] and learned a lot about light in the process. Our photographer, Nick, is incredible and knows how to make my crazy visions come to life. He comes up with ideas that take it to the next level. 

Georgia, how do you make the cross-sections so perfect? 

Georgia: I have sliced, at this point, thousands of bonbons and just developed the technique over time. If anyone’s asking, I always use a cold knife. A warm knife melts the bonbons too quickly. It also gives a different result, especially when you’re trying to show meticulous cross-sections. You’ll lose that detail. 

Many do get squished, but I get to eat them if that happens. 

How do you photograph Håkan’s liquid caramels?! 

Georgia: It’s like forcing an egg to hatch, or chipping away at a fossil. It can be a little challenging. As soon as they’re placed, we have to be prepared and shoot as soon as possible. 

Indica: The runnier ones are the last thing that we shoot because they mess up the surfaces. The photos always turn out great though.

What was it like working together on this project?

Indica: Lauren really owns Advent at Dandelion. I was so amazed by the incredible amount of work that goes into making the Advent Calendars what they are. It was really fun to brainstorm with her and develop all the bits and pieces we haven’t done before, such as the keepsake paper star and the storybook. Lauren and I have worked together for nearly a decade, so it’s great to be able to share all my ideas no matter how big or small. 

Lauren: I really enjoyed working with Indica, and we’ll continue this collaboration next year. It is so nice to have someone else to brainstorm with. Anything that Indica looks at or touches, she elevates. She makes it luxurious. I can come up with ideas, but Indica makes them feel exquisite. 

Georgia: Indica is our company tastemaker.

What are you the most excited about for this year’s Advent Calendar?

Lauren: A few things. The bow on the Advent box turns into a hair bow. We love that detail. And also, that the Calendar box is fabric. You don’t really notice it in the photography. It feels so exquisite in person. And, really, truly, the most exciting part is the hardcover storybook! 

Indica: I’m excited for the paper star and for everyone to have the experience of hanging it with their families. It’s a Scandinavian tradition and will be a memorable keepsake. I cannot wait for Lisa and her family to enjoy the Advent Calendar and see her vision come to life. Her artwork is in every aspect of the Calendar, from the star to the storybook to the box and ornaments. 

Georgia: I think hearing people’s reactions. By the time Christmas comes, our minds are on the next holidays. Hearing what people are enjoying, or which collaborator video gets a lot of attention, or all the things you don’t expect.

Are you already thinking about next year’s Calendar? 

Lauren: I’m working on developing the storyline, and Indica is looking into artists. 

Thanks, everyone. Reader, if you’d like to join us in December, you may pre-order your 2026 Advent Calendar here.