Design: Miranda Mora
Location: Mexico
Project Type: Student Project
Packaging Contents: Ice Cream
Packaging Substrate / Materials: Cardboard
Printing Process: Digital Printing

Texcoco is a small town located an hour away from Mexico City, with many small businesses full of tradition. Gelana is an ice cream shop established in 1999 by a local businessman as a small corner shop. After twenty-two years, it is now positioned within other restaurants in the area, delivering delicious, handmade ice creams. It has also opened a second, slightly bigger store.

However, the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 challenged most local businesses. More prominent companies such as Walmart and Sams were still running and offered a wide variety of international ice cream brands. Although locals deeply love Gelana for its tradition, many people still buy ice creams from commercial brands in supermarkets.

This project takes Gelana’s previous graphic identity. It turns it into a young, colorful, and bold packaging proposal to make it look and feel as authentic and vibrant as its community. The main objective is to make it thrive, become a popular destination for ice-cream lovers in town, and make people support local businesses.

Gelana is a fun, relatable, meaningful design experience meant to support local consumption. However, it is not only for locals but also for people who want to have an exquisite ice cream experience and have a taste of Mexican humor.

The design focused on abstract variations for the “e” in Gelana by creating a series of engaging, playful shapes to attract younger audiences and families. These shapes eventually became five individual patterns for different ice cream cup sizes and bigger packaging versions. As a result, customers would have a fun, engaging, and diverse experience while visiting the store as they choose their (most fun) flavor and enjoy it in beautiful and colorful packaging with unique abstract shapes to eat there or take away. Thus, the illustration, color palette, and logo convey the mood of the local atmosphere.

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