Uralskaya farming company launched Seven Brothers, a new milk brand. The task was to create

packaging for this new product line for regional market entrance.

One of the challenges was to develop a unique packaging design for a can of condensed milk.

The design of condensed milk (Russia’s most popular dairy product) was created in 1939 in the

USSR and hasn’t changed since that. The audience is blind towards any alternations of the

design. All brands (including international ones) are forced to copy the pattern instead of

developing and promoting their own, simply because there’s risk that consumers will ignore their

product.

Seven Brothers, the name of the milk brand, is a mountain group situated on the territory where

Uralskaya factory is located. According to the legends, Seven Brothers rocks are pagan giants

that turned into stone; it is a local Stonehenge.

The Shigir Idol, the world’s oldest known wooden anthropomorphous sculpture, was found on

this territory as well. The idol is eleven thousand years old. The place is a natural treasure and a

famous source of wild power and pure inspiration. The naming Seven Brothers reflects the brand

values: respect towards the history and legends of the region, fascination by the natural

blessings.

The brand’s location-specific naming inspired the team to use the image of the Shigir Idol as a

part of the visual system. Originally, idols appeared to form the spiritual bond between humans

and gods. The concept was used to re-interpret the legend about seven brothers; they were

illustrated through images of the idols. All characters of the concept have their specific

differentiating features and colour, and are customized according to the kind of a dairy product

within the product line.

The concept allows original product layout in the shops and supermarkets. When arranged next

to each other, the items with Seven Brothers packaging create an image of a mountain ridge, just

like the one that inspired the creative idea. It is an effective approach to product layout, unique to

the industry tradition.

The brand launched successfully in early January 2021. Sales of milk spiked and topped the

planned numbers by 14%. That result lead to Uralskaya factory expanding their product line. 4

new dairy products are to be launched in May 2021.

The packaging attracted additional attention to the Seven Brothers mountains, which boosted

tourism within the region and interest towards the history of the place.

The team created a unique font typeface that was inspired by constructivism motives. The

packaging stands out against the background of the industry’s mass market traditions.

For the first time in eighty years, the designing team managed to change the package design of a

can of condensed milk while preserving the brand’s unique graphic system.