Featured image for Boba x Ice Cream Is A Dessert With An Empowering Mission

Boba x Ice Cream Is A Dessert With An Empowering Mission

by Chloe Gordon on 10/07/2022 | 2 Minute Read

Two trends in the packaging world have recently undergone a curious transformation by one particular upstart brand. Boba, a tea-based drink often with tapioca pearls within, is continuously packaged with a stereotype-driven "dainty" aesthetic, and dessert brands are leaning further away from a look and feel that is too closely associated with indulgence. If it feels like both categories are afraid of breaking away from the design trends that dominate their respective space, you wouldn't be wrong.

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Yet, Boba Ice Cream caught wind of this hesitancy and is a brand with packaging that's not afraid to deviate from the current, albeit non-inclusive, norm. The brand's mission is to empower and respect the Asian community by changing the narrative, and the brand is comprehensively uplifting while encouraging cultures to mingle beautifully. 

Boba x Ice Cream is a self-proclaimed "magical duo of boba and ice cream" brand. And if the delicious fusion of the two dessert-driven categories wasn't enough, the packaging, designed by Chungi Yoo, takes the company to a stunning, kaleidoscopic creative space. 

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The packaging is multicolored, type-driven, and, most importantly, balanced. Each pint highlights the bold flavors through striking colors, charmingly small illustrations, and a big yet subtle swirl shape around the pint itself. 

"Boba brands are often associated with cute and bubbly brandings. We are disrupting the boba world as well as the American ice cream industry by bursting the stereotypical bubble," says Yoo. 

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The color palette used throughout the branding and packaging helps convey the delicious nostalgic flavors they created. For example, the Gooey Fried Banana packaging has two yellow hues in the background and a dark, almost black shade for the typography. "A lot of work went into creating these small-batch, artisanal flavors. The amazing taste of the chef-crafted ice cream had to be visualized in a great dynamic of color combinations," comments Yoo. "By creating these color palettes, we wanted people to visually experience the diverse nostalgic flavors which we as Asian-Americans grew up with." 

A portion of Boba x Ice Cream's proceeds will get donated to provide economic opportunity to disadvantaged Asian-American communities, further proving the brand's mission and values. Plus, by just looking at the packaging, consumers can quickly be consumed by the brand's visual identity, encouraging a world where cultures collide and harmonize intrinsically. 

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