The brief
Iceborn is an artisan ice cream studio in Ukraine — small batch, seasonal flavours, single retail location plus pop-up stalls during summer events. The brand had a strong Instagram presence but a website that was effectively a placeholder. Most customers found Iceborn through Instagram but converted in-store; the website was supposed to extend that into pop-up locations, wholesale inquiries, and event bookings.
What we did
Visual-first design that survives Instagram traffic
The audience arrives from Instagram with already-high visual expectations. The site is built around the same photography that performs on social, with a typography and grid system that feels editorial. Image delivery is optimized so the visuals load before the typography — opposite of the usual web order, but appropriate for a brand where the photography is the message.
Seasonal menu publishing
A streamlined CMS workflow for the owner to publish new flavours weekly during peak season. Each flavour gets its own page with photography, ingredients, allergens, and a story. Pages are connected by the seasonal context (summer, autumn, winter, holiday specials) and by ingredient (chocolate, berry, citrus).
Pop-up location discovery
A live map of upcoming pop-up locations with dates, hours, and venue details. Integrated with the studio's Google Business Profile so location changes propagate to Maps within minutes.
Wholesale inquiry flow
A dedicated B2B path for restaurants and cafes wanting to carry Iceborn — multi-step form capturing volume, lead time, and delivery requirements, routed to the owner's email with the right info already triaged.
Instagram integration done properly
Embedded Instagram feed with photo-level deep-linking back to the post — visitors can see the story behind a flavour, not just the static image. Story Highlights surfaced as on-site Stories blocks.
What we learned
Food brands with a strong Instagram presence don't need websites that "look like Instagram." They need websites that take Instagram visitors and give them something Instagram can't — depth, story, B2B paths, location discovery, menu archives. Trying to make a website "feel like" Instagram tends to produce a worse Instagram. Letting the website be a different surface, with different jobs, lets both work.
Related
For other artisan retail and hospitality sites: /website-development-for-beauty-salons. For the social-led acquisition side: /smm-promotion.
Project lead: Marketing MIX. Client: Iceborn. Year: 2023–2024.