Design Bridge and Partners, Singapore
BACKGROUND
Lunar New Year has become a crowded space for luxury spirits. For Don Julio 1942, the challenge was to create a distinctive offering with true stories at the heart.
The brief called for a limited-edition packaging design that felt meaningful rather than decorative, avoiding clichés while still honouring the rituals, emotions and symbolism of Lunar New Year.
The opportunity lay in finding a way to bring together two rich cultural identities: Mexican craftsmanship and Chinese tradition. Finding a genuine point of intersection that could elevate the brand’s storytelling and position Don Julio 1942 as a distinctive, disruptive presence within Lunar New Year celebrations.
CREATIVE IDEA
The creative idea was born from La Primavera — the name of Don Julio’s first distillery, meaning ‘Spring’. In a serendipitous alignment, Lunar New Year is also known as the Spring Festival, symbolising beginnings, fresh starts, and wild blooms.
This shared energy of spring became the foundation for the limited-edition packaging. Rather than borrowing surface motifs, the design celebrates spring as a joined moment of transformation — when colour intensifies, energy returns and passion blooms anew.
Taking its place at the heart of the Lunar New Year table as a natural participant in the ritual of gathering, toasting and welcoming the new year.
EXECUTION
The limited-edition Don Julio 1942 Lunar New Year packaging brings the irrepressible energy of spring to life through expressive colour, layered symbolism, and crafted detail. Welcoming the year of the Horse with a shared passion for craft that reflects in both cultures — bold yet refined, celebratory yet considered.
The illustration style and tactile finishings are inspired by Ikat Rebozo pattern textiles — the fabric worn by charro, highly skilled traditional Mexican horsemen. Blending this rich cultural motif with the powerful Chinese horse zodiac to create a wild beauty that could only bloom from their collision.
Every detail reinforces Don Julio 1942’s craftsmanship and heritage, whilst signaling a fresh contemporary approach to Lunar New Year design.
AGENCY:
CHRISTIE WIDJAJA, CREATIVE DIRECTOR
SUI YING HON, SENIOR DESIGNER
KATHRYN O’CONNELL, CLIENT BUSINESS DIRECTOR
CLARA CHOK, SENIOR CLIENT MANAGER
JASON LIW, SENIOR ILLUSTRATOR
PREE YAP, JUNIOR STRATEGIST
JIAN’AN ONG, SENIOR CGI ARTIST
DEA JOVITA, SENIOR VISUALISER
GARY WONG, SENIOR DESIGNER
KWOK ONN LEE, SENIOR REALISATION DESIGNER
PHIL DALL, EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR
JONTY HARBINSON, CREATIVE
JESSICA TAN, DIGITAL CREATIVE DIRECTOR
CLEMENT TEO, CGI ARTIST
DENISE KHI, CLIENT DIRECTOR
CLIENT CREDITS:
SALVADOR PADRON, GLOBAL VP MARKETING, DON JULIO
LISA RONAYNE, GLOBAL INNOVATION DIRECTOR FOR AGAVE
HANIA MIDURA, DESIGN & VISUAL IDENTITY DIRECTOR, NORTH AMERICA
LAURA ZHANG, APAC INNOVATION LEAD
JASPER LIU, CREATIVE AND CULTURE MANAGER
VALENTINA PARDO, BRAND MANAGER, DON JULIO
JAMIE HAKIM, GLOBAL BRAND DIRECTOR, CULTURE, DON JULIO
ANDREW OUGHTON, GENERAL MANAGER, APAC INNOVATION
YUKI JIANG , INNOVATION PACKAGING LEAD APAC
ANA VICTORIA AQUINO, SUPPLY PROJECT MANAGER, TEQUILA
