Design Innovation

Anthem Brings Charm Back to Good Humor Brand

Anthem Worldwide, a Schawk Strategic Design Company, and Unilever are at it again. The challenge was to reinvigorate the Good Humor ice cream brand, in existence since 1920, and return it to its original charm. Unilever tapped Anthem to give its package design system a fresh look.

Following many successful package design launches, what ensued was a collaborative design effort between Unilever's Visual Branding Team and the Anthem team. The result was an understanding of the original brand heritage and its "visual equities." The two companies developed a robust visual platform and an identity and package design that was nostalgic, but not old-fashioned.

"The primary goal of the redesign was to bring back the magic of this much-loved brand to its packaging, and clearly and consistently communicate the Good Humor brand," says Sheila Wenke, senior design manager, Unilever. "To do this, the team created a new Good Humor logo and supporting seal of endorsement that leveraged the equity of the Good Humor truck and the 90-year heritage of the brand." Unilever wanted to spotlight the new logo and create a place for it that worked with the "fun colors" that highlight the variety of flavors, she adds.

"The brand's current look did not express any of the associated visual equity that was at the heart of Good Humor, and the unique challenge of reinvigorating the iconic American ice cream brand, bringing it back its original charm, was compelling," says Janice Jaworski, managing director, of Anthem Worldwide (New York).

"Through this packaging refresh, we hoped to create a new excitement around the brand that would fit for both the classic Good Humor bars, as well as the newer favorites in the portfolio", says Donna Herley, brand development manager, Unilever. "It was important to clearly communicate all the delicious flavors in the line," she adds.

Key to the project was Anthem's interaction with Unilever's Visual Branding Team. Through this collaboration, Anthem was able to uncover the original brand heritage and its visual equities. "This led to the development of robust visual platforms, a range of varied packaging routes, and an extensive identity design exploratory," says Jaworski. She adds that there were also executional challenges regarding design and print consistency that were considered and solved.

Herley adds that Visual Branding acted as the conduit between the Good Humor Brand Development team and Anthem, consistently ensuring accurate communication hierarchy while protecting and building the brand equities.