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. 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.”