Since then, the chocolate-covered, oatmeal-cookie ice-cream sandwich
has had a loyal following both in the San Francisco area and in nearby
cities.
But when the Burlingame, CA-based ice-cream maker began selling its
product farther afield, in Costco club stores throughout California, it
found that its 1920’s era package graphics—easily recognizable to the
initiated, but lackluster to newcomers—required a retooling. “Because
the product was going outside of where it had a following, it needed to
work much harder to communicate,” says David Gauger, agency principal
for design firm Gauger + Assoc. (www.gauger-
associates.com), which revitalized the product’s 12-pack club-store
carton.
“The product needed packaging that was more dynamic, with more appetite
appeal, that explained what the product was all about,” Gauger adds.
The challenge, he says, was to “create compelling new packaging, yet
keep the product recognizable for its long-time fans.”
The result is a bright-blue, eye-catching package with a nostalgic
graphic quality. Explains Gauger + Assoc. art director Dana Klumb, “We
decided that the It’s-It brand should be the focal point of the
packaging. The old package used a cartoon line drawing. We commissioned
a very realistic illustration to maximize appetite appeal. The result
looks much like photography. The sandwich is the star in an uncluttered
design, surrounded by classic and timeless graphics.”
In the top left corner of the four-color litho-printed paperboard pack,
Klumb positioned the original It’s-It logo, preserving and celebrating
the brand’s heritage. Gauger says the carton’s bright-blue background
color was chosen to help the pack stand out in the freezer section and
to give it a fun, kid-friendly feel.
