How a UL grad created Blue Bell’s iconic logo

You’ve recognized it since childhood. That iconic gold-lidded tub with the silhouette of a girl leading a milk cow meant it was time for dessert.

Blue Bell Creamery’s logo hasn’t changed in nearly 40 years and it has ties directly to the Hub City.

Lafayette native Jerry Jeanmard, 70, designed the logo while working for an agency that carried an account for the Texas-based ice cream company.

“I used to be an illustrator and in the 1970’s the agency that handled Blue Bell’s account was in Houston,” Jeanmard said.

At that time, the century-old company began focusing on selling solely ice cream rather than butter, which quadrupled its sales by the early 1980’s and brought in $30 million a year.

Jeanmard, who graduated from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 1967, formerly known as the University of Southwestern Louisiana, designed the logo to company’s specification.”

Well, sort of.

“They’ve never changed it. Well, they did change it when I was doing the preliminary sketches, but only the cow,” he said. “The girl they left alone, but the cow they made many changes to because it was not anatomically correct.”

“I knew what a girl looked like but obviously I didn’t know what a cow looked like, at least not a dairy cow,” he said jokingly.

Jeanmard left his 20-year stint as an illustrator to become a Houston interior designer, but he said he still occasionally flexes his bragging rights.

“Sometimes I tell my clients that they own a sample of my work. It’s in their freezer,” he said. “They are always surprised.”

Last week Blue Bell announced the return of its products to select grocery stores this fall.

The company issued a national recall five months ago and shut down production after its products were linked to 10 listeria illnesses in four states.

Like many consumers across the country, Texas is ready for the return of its beloved dessert, Jeanmard said.

“Especially here in Houston. It’s sacred,” he said.