Ichan Qal’a – Creative Ice Cream Packaging Design
In branding, national pride is not just about waving a flag. A true strategic approach involves taking historical heritage off museum shelves, translating it into the language of the modern market, and introducing it into people's daily lives in a useful way.
Our latest collaboration was with the Tourism Committee of Uzbekistan and the Basma ice cream factory.
1. The Challenge
The goal before us was not just to create ice cream, but a product that "speaks" and tells a story.
Ichan Qala is living history under the open sky. However, for youth and children, history often seems like a boring textbook.
The Problem: how to awaken interest in their own history among the young generation and simultaneously promote domestic tourism? We needed a solution that would be both commercially successful (sell well) and fulfill a social mission.
2. Research
What do children and young people love? They love secrets, adventures, and discoveries. We studied the map of Ichan Qala. Its narrow streets and the location of its minarets resemble a labyrinth.
Insight: what if we illustrated the map of Ichan Qala not as a simple topographic drawing, but in the style of a pirate treasure map?
This approach transforms the packaging from paper to be thrown in the trash into content to be studied.
3. The Solution
The project's full conceptual solution — from naming to graphics — was developed by our agency.
- Naming: A direct name was chosen without excessive complexity — "Ichan Qal’a". This name itself indicates the product's origin and mission.
- Visual Strategy: In the packaging design, we applied the "Gamification" method. We illustrated the map of the ancient Ichan Qala monument in the style of a "treasure map" from adventure films. The aged paper effect, ancient fonts, and interesting drawings of monuments — all this encourages the child (and adults too) not to throw away the paper after eating the ice cream, but to unfold and examine it.
The Result
Through this project, we "killed two birds with one stone":
- Cultural Promotion: every ice cream sold is a small excursion through Ichan Qala. Through this, we created a unique flyer inviting youth to get to know their homeland and developing domestic tourism.
- Market Position: at a time when competitors could not move away from standard designs, "Ichan Qala" clearly stood out with its intellectual and aesthetic design.
Thus, design consists not only of a beautiful picture; it can also be used as a tool for education and upbringing. The "Ichan Qala" project proved that if history and culture are "packaged" correctly, they can be more interesting than any modern trend.
Do you want your brand to bring benefit to society too? Minim Design — we create brands that bring benefit to both business and society.
