我们从小喝到大的优酸乳，怎么变得像个“潮牌”？
How Did Yousuanyu—the Yogurt We’ve Been Drinking Since Childhood—Become a “Trendy Brand”?
L3branding团队为刚刚年满30岁、年销量超百亿国民品牌优酸乳进行了全面升级设计。我们对其用了30年的LOGO进行了扁平化处理，文字的笔画也微调修正，整个品牌标志性形象变得更加清晰、有质感。此次升级还同步建立起品牌字库，并对经典产品的包装进行系统性革新。
L3branding team carried out a comprehensive redesign for You Suan Niu, a national brand that just turned 30 and boasts annual sales exceeding 10 billion. We flattened the logo that had been in use for 30 years and made subtle adjustments to the letterforms, resulting in a brand identity that is clearer and more refined. As part of this upgrade, we also developed a brand typeface library and systematically revamped the packaging of its classic products.
从LOGO微调开始建立视觉系统
Building a Visual Identity System Starting with Subtle Adjustments to the Logo
单次爆款能带来话题，但无法形成长期的品牌认知，优酸乳需要的是一套统一、清晰、可穿透代际的视觉识别系统，来承接品牌的长期表达。在保留“优酸乳”三字字形骨架与识别特征的前提下，旧LOGO被以减法重新处理，剥离了立体描边与渐变光影，还原为扁平化结构。这一步不仅是让品牌更靠近国际审美趋势，也是通过去除特定时代的装饰痕迹，让品牌以回归基础的姿态更灵活地应对数字时代的传播变化。
A one-time hit product may generate buzz, but it cannot establish long-term brand recognition. You Suan Niu needs a unified, clear, and intergenerational visual identity system to support the brand’s long-term messaging. While retaining the typographic framework and distinctive features of the three Chinese characters for “You Suan Niu,” the old logo was redesigned using a minimalist approach. The three-dimensional outlines and gradient shading were stripped away, reducing it to a flat design. This step not only brings the brand closer to international aesthetic trends but also, by removing decorative elements specific to a particular era, allows the brand to return to its fundamentals and adapt more flexibly to the evolving communication landscape of the digital age.
仅靠LOGO的更新不足以支撑一套完整的视觉系统。梳理原有的品牌视觉资产时，一个关键元素被找到了——“浪线”。它原本只是LOGO中象征牛奶流动感的“奶浪形状”，但它的出现让品牌拥有了足够灵活和具有识别度的视觉基因。首先，它并非新造，作为品牌30年一直使用的元素，它在消费者心中已具有熟悉感。其次，它可以轻松地被放大、缩小、重复，甚至流动起来成为动态视觉，从而运用在不同的媒介和尺度之中，既保持统一的识别性，又不会因为重复而显得生硬或单调，为品牌在短视频、社交媒体等数字传播场景中预留了充分的空间。
Simply updating the logo is not enough to support a complete visual identity system. While reviewing the brand’s existing visual assets, a key element was identified: the “wave line.” Originally, it was merely a “milk wave shape” in the logo symbolizing the flow of milk, but its inclusion has provided the brand with a visual DNA that is both flexible and highly recognizable. First, it is not a new creation; as an element the brand has used consistently for 30 years, it is already familiar to consumers. Second, it can be easily scaled up, scaled down, repeated, or even animated to create dynamic visuals, allowing it to be applied across different media and scales. This maintains consistent brand recognition without appearing stiff or monotonous due to repetition, thereby providing ample room for the brand to thrive in digital communication channels such as short videos and social media.
更值得注意的是，浪线经过拉长后近似一种笔触形态，借此可以自然开发出品牌专属中文字库，同步完成英文字体的正斜体定制，将字体从“外部采购资产”转为“自有视觉资产”，使字体形态与品牌符号形成内在呼应。至此，优酸乳的设计语言从零散的视觉元素收束为一套可统一表述、可批量应用、可持续生长的视觉识别体系。从LOGO这一关键触点入手，完成了品牌视觉基调的确立，也为品牌在所有触点上的视觉输出打下标准样本。
What is particularly noteworthy is that, when elongated, the wave-like lines take on a brushstroke-like form. This allows for the natural development of a brand-exclusive Chinese character font, along with the simultaneous customization of upright and italic versions of the English typeface. This transforms the typeface from an “externally procured asset” into a “proprietary visual asset,” creating an intrinsic resonance between the typeface’s form and the brand’s symbols. At this point, the design language of You Suan Niu has evolved from disparate visual elements into a unified, scalable, and sustainable visual identity system. Starting with the logo—a key touchpoint—the brand has established its visual tone and set a standard template for visual output across all touchpoints.
老品牌潮牌化，从视觉识别到文化表达
Establishing a Trend-Forward Identity for Legacy Brands: From Visual Identity to Cultural Expression
视觉系统的统一让品牌更易被识别。但要将品牌的形象真正立住，还需要在品牌目标人群和品牌性格之间搭建起对话的通路。如何让品牌以年轻人的语言来叙事，就是品牌升级中的突破点。设计团队在第一视角搭配鱼眼镜头的视觉创意中找到了灵感，鱼眼镜头制造的广角透视和边缘畸变感，似乎打造了一种“聚焦、个性、主观、一切都要围绕自我展开”的语境，这与Z世代观看世界的角度高度契合。以此为视觉语言，优酸乳对经典产品包装进行了系统刷新，特邀美国插画师Spencer协作完成插画，从过去“满版无中心、元素堆叠”的构图，转向围绕水果核心主体展开的叙事性画面，并将产品置入居家惬意、户外运动、文艺活动、旅行探索四个生活场景。包装背面的社交用语单字设计，进一步放大了这种互动属性，为用户自发的内容创作预留了空间。
A unified visual system makes a brand more recognizable. However, to truly establish a brand’s identity, it is necessary to build a channel of communication between the brand’s target audience and its personality. The key to a successful brand upgrade lies in how the brand tells its story using the language of young people. The design team drew inspiration from a visual concept combining a first-person perspective with a fisheye lens. The wide-angle perspective and edge distortion created by the fisheye lens seem to establish a context of “focus, individuality, subjectivity, and everything revolving around the self”—a perspective that aligns perfectly with how Gen Z views the world. Using this as its visual language, You Suan Niu systematically revamped the packaging of its classic products. The brand invited American illustrator Spencer to collaborate on the illustrations, shifting from the previous “full-page, centerless, element-stacked” compositions to narrative-driven visuals centered around fruit as the main subject. The product was then placed within four lifestyle scenarios: cozy home life, outdoor sports, cultural activities, and travel exploration. The single-character social media-inspired designs on the back of the packaging further amplify this interactive quality, leaving room for users to spontaneously create their own content.
从镜头语言切入包装升级，可以看作是设计走向文化沟通方式的过程。类似于潮流品牌通过一套可识别的符号系统，优酸乳也是通过将某种态度和生活方式的认同感注入产品，让消费者愿意将符号穿在身上、带进日常。而从打造产品到打造标签，“浪线”符号的可玩性被着力放大，进行了一系列视觉延展。我们可以把它看作是飞扬的马尾、wink时眼角的弧度、滑板腾空时的轨迹，也可以将它为冰淇淋雪顶、牙膏，甚至是一抹眼影。此时，浪线不再是固定的图形，而是一种可以被不断重新想象的动态笔触。
Approaching the packaging upgrade through the lens of visual language can be seen as a process by which design evolves into a form of cultural communication. Much like how fashion brands use a recognizable system of symbols, Yosuan Milk also infuses its products with a sense of identity tied to a certain attitude and lifestyle, encouraging consumers to wear these symbols and incorporate them into their daily lives. In the shift from product creation to brand identity building, the playfulness of the “Wave Line” symbol has been deliberately amplified through a series of visual extensions. We can interpret it as a flowing ponytail, the curve of an eye when winking, or the trajectory of a skateboard in mid-air; it can also resemble the swirl on top of ice cream, a tube of toothpaste, or even a stroke of eyeshadow. At this point, the Wave Line is no longer a static graphic but a dynamic stroke that can be endlessly reimagined.
当这个灵动的符号成为周边，浪线可以成为耳环、鞋花、发卡，也可以作为一种印花元素出现在手提袋、丝巾等单品上。 除了在音乐节、城市快闪等线下场景中出现，品牌甚至邀请到时代少年团，共同拍摄了一支周边时装秀大片，使得消费者愿意将品牌符号带进日常生活。这种思路的特别之处在于，让周边代替品牌文化，成为可以被反复使用、融入日常穿搭的“长期主义单品”。在周边的使用过程中，优酸乳的符号完成了从品牌标识到身份标签的迁移，品牌与消费者之间的关系也从消费转向了认同。浪线进而由品牌说“我是谁”的方式，转化为消费者展现“我是谁”的方式。
When this dynamic symbol is transformed into merchandise, the “Wave Line” can take the form of earrings, shoe embellishments, or hair clips, or appear as a print motif on items like tote bags and scarves. In addition to appearing at offline events such as music festivals and urban pop-ups, the brand even invited the group “Times Youth” to collaborate on a merchandise fashion show photoshoot, encouraging consumers to incorporate the brand symbol into their daily lives. What makes this approach unique is that it positions the merchandise as a representation of the brand’s culture—a “long-term staple” that can be reused and seamlessly integrated into everyday outfits. Through the use of these merchandise items, the YouSuanYu symbol has evolved from a mere brand logo to a badge of identity, and the relationship between the brand and consumers has shifted from mere consumption to a sense of identification. Consequently, the wave line has transformed from a way for the brand to say “who I am” into a way for consumers to express “who I am.”
升级后的优酸乳，像一个许久未见的小学同学，面容熟悉，但增添了沉淀和阅历，有了自己独特的气质。这恰恰是设计团队在“克制”与“突破”之间打开的那扇窄门：守住品牌资产中最珍贵的记忆锚点，同时赋予它一套能与当下年轻人对话的完整语言。但说到底，设计只是手段，设计背后的驱动力更在于优酸乳清晰的品牌成长线。也许从打出“我要我的滋味”这句Slogan开始，优酸乳就注定不是一个守旧的品牌，而是始终充满生命力和创造力的先锋青年代言人。
The upgraded You Suan Niu is like an elementary school classmate you haven’t seen in a long time—familiar, yet with added depth and experience, and now possessing its own unique charm. This is precisely the narrow opening the design team created between “restraint” and “innovation”: preserving the most precious memory anchors of the brand’s assets while endowing it with a complete language capable of speaking to today’s young people. Ultimately, however, design is merely a means to an end; the driving force behind it lies in You Suan Niu’s clear brand evolution. Perhaps ever since it launched the slogan “I Want My Own Flavor,” You Suan Niu was destined not to be a brand clinging to the past, but rather a pioneering voice for the youth—one that has always been brimming with vitality and creativity.
与许多重包装轻文化的品牌不同，优酸乳愿意慢下来思考。借着品牌30年的契机，优酸乳由细节开始一点一点填补品牌内核中被岁月磨淡的部分，把“我要我的滋味”中的品牌态度，做Z世代的新演绎，成为一种可以被看见、被感知的年轻态度。在细节处下功夫，让设计成为品牌气质的外化，让文化成为品牌基因的养料，这或许才是优酸乳真正“逆龄”的秘密。也唯有如此，一个品牌才能真正穿越周期，始终与年轻人并肩，走过更多30年。
Unlike many brands that prioritize packaging over culture, You Suan Niu is willing to slow down and reflect. Marking its 30th anniversary, You Suan Niu is starting with the details to gradually restore the elements of its brand essence that have faded over time, reinterpreting the brand attitude embodied in “I Want My Own Flavor” for Gen Z and transforming it into a youthful attitude that can be seen and felt. Focusing on the details—letting design embody the brand’s essence and allowing culture to nourish its DNA—may well be the true secret behind You Suan Niu’s “defiance of aging.” Only in this way can a brand truly transcend trends, remain side by side with young people, and journey through many more 30-year cycles.