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packaging for Pirottino Cacao with cow
Packaging for Sammontana Gelato, 1981.
March 22, 2021

Sammontana Gelato

In 1981 Milton Glaser redesigned the logo for Sammontana, an Italian ice cream company based in Empoli. (The Italian Logo Museum has a great historical overview of the evolution of Sammontana’s logo since its founding in 1946.) Glaser’s work for Sammontana is just one of his many projects for Italian clients (e.g., Olivetti, Vespa, Venice Biennale, etc); of course, Glaser’s love affair with Italy began with his Fulbright year in Bologna studying with Morandi.

Glaser’s primary logo for Sammontana consisted of a half circle with a simplified, smiling ice cream cone; this logo has mostly survived intact and is still used today.
Logo for Sammontana Gelato with smiling ice cream cone

Sammontana shop sign featuring all the ice cream products


But the project also included customized designs for individual flavors, each with its own character and coordinated patterned label design. It’s not hard to imagine Pirottino Cacao, Granulato Amarena and Duetto interacting in a make-believe world. The distinctive packaging is designed like a set of trading cards; each one is special in its own way. What kid (or grown-up) wouldn’t want to collect them all?
Harlequin face in front of red and yellow diamond pattern
Label for strawberry gelato with strawberries and snowflakes against a red background
Label for Duetto gelato with zebra and brown and pink zebra stripes
Label for Fior Di Panna gelato with bumblebees against a green background
Label for Fruttino gelato with red flowers shaped like orange slices on a yellow background
Pirottino Cacao gelato label with cow
Label for Granulator Amarena gelator with squirrel and cherries

This article also appears in PRINT.