Spotlight: Food & Beverage

Williams Murray Hamm Creates Adventurous Graphic Motif for Premium British Ice Cream

Gina and Charles Hall started making Hill Station Ice Cream with an entrepreneurial spirit, hoping to bring the highest quality ingredients and wildest flavors to the most discerning ice cream lovers. The Halls wanted the Hill Station name to evoke real world remembrances of travels in the tropics, where hill stations are places to escape the oppressive equatorial sun. One particular station in Malaysia holds a special place in the Halls' travel memoirs.

The problem was that none of the tropical associations were communicated on the previous ice cream tubs. "They came to us to really move things up to the next level," says Garrick Hamm, one of three principals in London's Williams Murray Hamm (WMH) design agency. Once committed to the Hill Station concept, WMH wanted to make everything about the hill stations. WMH convinced the Halls that it would not be advisable to move two or three steps forward, but that they needed to make a big jump — and the signpost would achieve this goal.

WMH appropriated the iconic hand-made sign graphics that point travelers to nearby hill stations. The signposts emphasize grown-up adventure, and the tropical sky backdrops hint at the unusual ice cream ingredients from the tropics. Exotic flavors such as cardamom, stem ginger, and mango lime are current offerings in the ever-changing Hill Station line.

With a super premium ice cream offering tropical flavors, the market is less seasonal and the package design can be less formulaic. Every flavor has a unique container picture, and the order of information is sometimes mixed up, with the flavor indicator on top or in the middle.

"We really liked the attitude at Williams Murray Hamm — not only creative but very brave," says Gina Hall, who is very pleased how sales have increased. The goal was to have consumers pick up the package and think: "This is going to look great in my freezer." Once the consumer takes it home and discovers the tasty, exciting, and quality ice cream, the product itself will build loyalty. This engaging strategy was developed to be as intriguing at point of sale as it might be on a website.

When testing design ideas with real consumers, Gina Hall remembers why she was sold on the signpost concept and presentation. "People always smiled when they looked at it," she says. She believes it makes a pleasant personal connection with people, even if they're not sure what it symbolizes or communicates. It seems a signpost may be an icon that has personal aspirations that are almost universally felt, especially against a colorful sky background.

Hamm can see, objectively, that the package is a cute story even though it can be quite difficult to comprehend immediately. Ice cream on a signpost doesn't really make any sense. However, Hamm emphasizes, in the premium category, a brand can get away with such obscure references. "It does show the power of design," Hamm says. "Design can make the difference."

Photographer Paul Williams is responsible for the images, and he also gathers the random pieces of wood to paint. The design is open some reinterpretation, as new flavors are always being added. Being entrepreneurial risk-takers, the Halls went for this well-executed presentation without too much reservation. "There needed to be some naiveté there," says Hamm. "They really never took the edges off it."