Soft Republic Pop-up Ice-cream Parlour, London
Design Credit:
I-AM
i-amonline.com
Soft serve ice-cream hotdogs have become reality thanks to the Soft Republic pop-up at the Spitalfields Market. Open throughout the summer, the choose-your-own adventure ice-cream vendor allows guests to build a bizarro dessert using waffle cones, burger buns or hot dog buns as a basis – and top it off with toffee popcorn, pretzels and toasted marshmallows.
I-Am has created a vibrant, adaptive DIY dessert space where personalisation and shareability are daily specials.
The brainchild of Unilever’s Walls, the experiential pop-up modernizes soft serve ice-cream for Millennials while providing familiar options for traditionalists. With its DIY menu and photo-friendly atmosphere, it encourages self-expression, creativity and individuality.
The pop-up is housed in a traditional market building with a shop front made over with quirky graphics, illustrations and signage that encourages visitors to ‘create magic’.
Inside, urban art from Shoreditch artist Rich Fairhead provides a vibrant backdrop that references the local area and is infused with colourful, dessert-themed moments.
The soft serve machines are smothered with cheerful stickers and branded hashtags, and a hand-drawn chalkboard menu and framed photos of desserts add quirky appeal.
Shareability, personalisation and novelty are high on the agenda. Between the Instagrammable murals, the Hall of Fame featuring Polaroids of customer creations, and a social media tie-in campaign encouraging customers to upload and share their desserts, there’s plenty of all three going on.
