Mischief & Co.

What we're on about

The Fat Little Penguin was a very well loved brand in Kolkata, with a cult following for its premium, artisanal, crazy delicious ice creams. But the founder, Jayatri, had outgrown the brand. The name felt off. The identity didn’t reflect the ambition or the playfulness and experimentation behind the product.

The word "fat" ... didn’t sit well

It echoed old-school guilt narratives around dessert that she wanted no part of. She also had many plans for growing her product range and company.... her brand needed to evolve to keep up with everything else.

How we went about it

9133 brought us in to help them rethink the brand from the ground up. We started with a deep-dive workshop with Jayatri, understanding what she wanted to say, what didn’t feel right anymore, and where the current brand was out of step with the cold-cold-coolness she was building in her kitchen.

That session unlocked a lot - it clarified the audience, tone, the ambition, and the founder’s way of thinking.

Why yes, we did talk about the penguin like it was a real person in the room with us

From there, we kicked off a naming sprint fuelled by sugar and spreadsheets. We explored a wide range of spaces for the names:

Names rooted in indulgence and pleasure and ice-cream that’s worth every lick.
Names that played on everyday moments and cravings
Names inspired by the kind of flavour experimentations the founder was planning
Even a few that tipped a hat to Bengali culture

Our naming sheet was a sprawling smorgasbord - here are some notable (aka silly) mentions.

The final name

Mischief & Co

Why Mischief & Co.?

The name reflects the brand and founder’s energy. Full of glee and joy and unrestrained mischief (really - talk to Jayatri ONCE and you’ll see the mischief emanating from her). It also captures the way she approaches ice cream - with no rules, complete joy, and a keeda of seeing just how much she can get away with.

Mischief: Captured that spirit.
& Co - spoke to everything else that came with the brand - its ever-expanding range of flavours, formats, and surprises.

We also saw the ampersand as a key part of the brand universe - opening up many playful, unexpected copy and design possibilities.

Which brings us to the beautiful visual identity

9133 took all the groundwork done and then some, and developing a stunning visual identity that’s colourful as hecc, cheeky and playful while being premium and full of possibility.