Reframing Ice Cream as an Act of Anticipation

Lick Me First is an ice-cream brand built around a simple but underexplored insight: the first interaction with food is emotional, not functional. Before taste, before texture, before temperature—there is anticipation. The project set out to question how frozen desserts are traditionally branded and to deliberately move away from safe nostalgia, family-centric cues, and predictable indulgence tropes.

Designed as a contemporary challenger brand, Lick Me First positions ice cream not as a polite dessert, but as a sensory experience driven by impulse, desire, and immediacy.

The Why
Most ice-cream brands operate within a narrow visual and verbal vocabulary—soft pastels, smiling faces, comfort-driven storytelling, and generic notions of happiness. Our research indicated that while consumption habits have evolved, brand language has not. Younger, design-aware audiences engage more deeply with brands that acknowledge craving, tension, and personality, rather than masking them under nostalgia.
Lick Me First was conceived to occupy this cultural gap. The brand name itself acts as a provocation—inviting curiosity, creating a pause, and establishing an emotional hook before the product is even experienced. The objective was not shock, but memorability through confidence.

The How
The identity was developed through a layered process of cultural research, competitive mapping, and sensory analysis. We studied how language, typography, and material finishes influence perceived taste and temperature, and how restraint can often feel more premium than excess.
The visual system balances boldness with control. Typography is assertive yet refined, packaging layouts are deliberately minimal, and color usage is intentional—allowing the product to feel modern without relying on trend-heavy aesthetics. Every design decision reinforces the core idea: anticipation is part of the product.
Rather than over-explaining flavors or emotions, the brand leaves space—inviting the consumer to complete the experience themselves.

Collaboration
This project was developed in close collaboration with Ansh, working across strategy, naming, visual direction, and packaging design. The process was highly iterative, with continuous dialogue between concept and execution to ensure that the brand’s provocation never compromised clarity or craft.

Outcome
Lick Me First emerges as a brand that is unapologetic yet considered—playful without being gimmicky, bold without losing sophistication. It challenges conventions in the frozen dessert category while remaining grounded in strong strategic thinking and design discipline.
The project stands as an exploration of how branding can shift perception—not by being louder, but by being more intentional.