How&How built a sleep-friendly ice cream brand, Snooz
(Figure 1)
In contemporary graphic design practice, the role of an Art Director is distinct from related creative positions such as Creative Director, Account Director, or Senior Designer. While these roles often collaborate on campaigns such Pizza Hut’s Vertical Pizza Box and the Snooz ice cream branding by How&How, they certainly carry different responsibilities. The Art Director’s focus is to define and control the visual language, tone, and sensory experience of a project, by transforming conceptual ideas into clear visual systems across multiple platforms. The Snooz ice cream campaign demonstrates how art direction shapes identity through carefully considered visual choices. Unlike conventional ice cream branding, which often relies on bright, joyful imagery, intense colours, and playful elements, the campaign embraced a nocturnal aesthetic. The Art Director led the development of a wordmark incorporating moons, a cool-toned palette, and photographic imagery which emphasises late-night environments, rather than the usual daylight scenes. These choices were not just decorative, they formed a cohesive visual narrative aligned with the product’s conceptual positioning as a ‘nighttime indulgence.’ Through art direction, the campaign communicates meaning visually, establishing a personality that is memorable and distinctive. Moreover, a Creative Director focuses on the broader conceptual and strategic vision, working with multiple teams to ensure the idea is clear across design, copy, and campaign execution. The Account Director manages client relationships, deadlines, and budgets. Senior Designers implement the Art Director’s guidance. In the Snooz campaign, the Art Director’s role was essential for creating insight into aesthetic, ensuring consistency across packaging, digital content, and social media, while maintaining the brand’s tone. Art direction in contemporary practice is particularly crucial when campaigns aim to disrupt norms, such as with Snooz. By eliminating traditional ideas and designing for night time, the Art Director ensured the campaign communicates the product’s unique message without relying on explanation. The visual hierarchy, typography, and colour choices collectively lead the audiences view, making the brand identity feel authentic and culturally relevant. Ultimately, the Art Director is responsible for the visual execution that bridges strategy and audience perception. In the Snooz example, this involved leading concept development, supervising design execution, and maintaining consistency across media. Their decisions ensure the brand speaks clearly, consistently, and memorably, which makes for a successful campaign. By comparison to Creative Directors, Account Directors, and Senior Designers, the Art Director’s role is involved with visual decision-making, while remaining guided by strategic insight. Their work is required for transforming ideas into a visual reality, creating communication that resonates with audiences. In both Snooz and Pizza Hut, art direction demonstrates how visual leadership is crucial in contemporary design practice, Ultimately, in the case of Snooz, this visual leadership is particularly evident in how consistently the nighttime concept is emphasised across the brand. From the softened, bubble typography to the muted, atmospheric colour palette and ambient photography style, every visual decision reinforces the idea of indulgence before going to sleep. This does not happen naturally, it requires an Art Director to continuously evaluate whether each design element supports the central narrative. By maintaining this idea, the campaign avoids becoming fragmented and instead delivers a united, immersive brand experience that clearly differentiates Snooz within a highly competitive market of ice cream.
Reference List:
Figure 1: Boom, C. (2026) Why this new ice-cream brand only makes sense after dark. https://www.creativeboom.com/news/how-and-how-on-why-burn-the-bunting-was-key-to-branding-a-new-ice-cream/ [Accessed 27 Feb 2026].