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Poppy Thaxter
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Sebastian Páez creates a flavourful brand refresh for family-owned ice cream brand Merry Pops


Sebastian Páez creates a flavourful brand refresh for family-owned ice cream brand Merry Pops
Sebastian Páez creates a flavourful brand refresh for family-owned ice cream brand Merry Pops

Merry Pops is a family-owned company catering to Australia’s ice pop consumers. Utilising sophisticated Italian gelato machinery, they’ve set out to transform tradition into artistry and now boast a range of flavourful combinations; from the refreshingly fruity ‘Passion Mango’ to the indulgently creamy ‘Caramel Brownie.’ Looking for a brand refresh, Merry Pops approached Milan-based designer Sebastian Páez to develop an identity that not only speaks directly to a young audience but also celebrates the company’s values of quality, craftsmanship and seasonality. Inspired by the handcrafted, high-end and colourful ice pops, Páez’s resulting identity is both playful and sophisticated. 

Sebastian Páez creates a flavourful brand refresh for family-owned ice cream brand Merry Pops
Sebastian Páez creates a flavourful brand refresh for family-owned ice cream brand Merry Pops

The brand’s duality is conveyed through the contrasting typeface pairing of FK Screamer and Kansas. Looking for a typeface that reflected their personality, the former was the strongest candidate thanks to its loud character. “It is a very robust yet elegant and well-conceived typeface,” Páez tells us, describing the thinking behind the typeface pairing. “We loved the contrast between its straight counters and the external curves of its letterforms,” he notes. “New Kansas, on the other hand,” Páez continues, “is the friendlier face of the pair thanks to its softened edges and elliptical serifs that create the perfect balance.”

The wordmark adds a friendly touch at the heart of the identity due to its playful, easy-going character. Based on House Industries’ Cooper Nouveau, it aims to evoke the “softness and creaminess” of the ice pops through its chunky shapes and quirky moments. “Its baseline has been rotated so the letterforms have been slightly adjusted to match the ascending baseline, ” Páez tells us, explaining the changes he made. “This tweak gives a more dynamic and playful tone to the wordmark and helps create an acronym that feels less blocky and more energetic.”

Sebastian Páez creates a flavourful brand refresh for family-owned ice cream brand Merry Pops
Sebastian Páez creates a flavourful brand refresh for family-owned ice cream brand Merry Pops

Alongside the impactful use of type, the photography and use of a light and breezy colour palette bring the visual identity together. Inspired by the colours of the ice pops, Páez created a simple palette focused on four different hues. “We decided to shrink down its vibrancy and use pastels so the colours wouldn’t steal the show fron the ice pops,” the designer recalls. “The advantage of having a very colourful and provocative product made us think that we had to find a way to showcase its attributes properly,” he adds. This led to the choice to position the pops against a clean backdrops. “We wanted to look playful and young and the pastels gave that feeling but at the same time we wanted to feel sophisticated and bold,” Páez concludes.

Graphic Design

Sebastian Páez

Typography

Cooper Nouveau (customised) by House Industries
FK Screamer by Florian Karsten
New Kansas by Newlyn

Photography

Elle Haramis

3D

Nando

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