Press Release
Agave De Ray Brand Identity by Bojun Tan Is Granted the Bronze A' Design Award in Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design
Bojun Tan acknowledged for graphics, illustration and visual communication design by the international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 17, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has announced that Agave De Ray Brand Identity by Bojun Tan, designed for Agave De Ray, has been granted the Bronze A' Design Award in the Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design category. The result belongs to the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was determined through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who assessed anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
What the Bronze A' Design Award Means
The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.
About Agave De Ray Brand Identity
Agave De Ray presents a refined brand architecture for a Beijing based mezcal dealer, bridging Oaxacan heritage with urban hospitality. The project utilizes an adaptive identity where ingredients are personified as watchful spirits, merging playful illustration with a rigorous typographic system. By balancing artisanal textures with a muted earthen palette, the design establishes a sophisticated visual standard for boutique spirits, translating ancestral grit for a modern elite audience.
About Bojun Tan
Hello, I'm Bojun Tan, a New Jersey-based graphic designer with a deep love of making art since childhood. Over the three years of my career, I developed a specialty in branding and typography and worked primarily with food and cultural startups. My work is often seen as futuristic, as I love to employ new techniques. However, I strive not to let style be my limitation and to evolve my design approach continuously. Whether making something look modern or adding a touch of quirkiness, my work aims to catch the eye and tell a story.
Award Record
Bojun Tan is a winner of 1 A' Design Award, including this recognition.
About the A' Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design Award
The A' Graphic Design Award is an international graphic design competition recognizing good graphic designs by best creative agencies and designers worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to graphic designers, communication designers, graphic artists and illustrators from all countries. Typical entries include logos, posters, infographics, brochures, packaging designs and business cards. The awarded graphic designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/graphics
About A' Design Award & Competition
Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://dezigners.org/181084
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/181084
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!181084
- Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/344886
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://www.tomtan.net/projects/agave-de-ray
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Agave De Ray Brand Identity
- Function
- Brand Identity
- Category
- Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design
- Discipline
- Communication Design
- Industry
- Branding & Advertising and Arts
- Colors
- Black, Dark Slate Gray, Saddle Brown, Tan and Dark Olive Green
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Agave De Ray
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Bojun Tan
- Country
- United States of America
- Recognition
- Bronze A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #181084
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- Agave de Ray is a mezcal dealer and bar based in Beijing. The project develops a brand architecture that bridges the raw, ancestral character of oaxacan mezcal production with the speakeasy drinking culture of beijing. Anchored by an adaptive visual identity, the system translates traditional agave-related elements into a family of quirky personified spirits. The overall brand identity aims to establish a new model of high-end boutique spirits within an urban drinking context
- Inspiration
- Driven by the brand's namesake, the owner, the design personified the agave as a watchful spirit by adding eyes to each element, infusing the identity with a personal, mischievous soul. The research focused on the tension between Oaxacan ancestral grit and Beijing's urban refinement. An adaptive logo system was made to shift with the product line, using a linocut aesthetic and a muted palette to ground the quirky characters in a high end, boutique dealer context.
- Research
- This visual research analyzed the tension between traditional heritage and a luxury market of young drinking culture. Using comparative analysis and mood mapping, I identified a gap between traditional kitsch and luxury. By studying urban drinking rituals and premium spirit packaging, I developed an adaptive identity system, resulting in a series of motif that humanizes the product while maintaining elite status.
- Challenge
- The primary challenge was achieving a fine balance between "playful quirk" and "high-end prestige." Internally, I had to balance the owner’s personal namesake with the historical weight of Oaxacan tradition. Externally, the obstacle was avoiding "craft-kitsch" while maintaining artisanal authenticity for the Beijing luxury market. I overcame this by engineering an adaptive logo system that shifts with the spirit, using a rigid minimalist grid to anchor the fluid, hand-drawn characters.
- Realization and Technology
- To maintain the brand’s Ancestral Grit, I utilized a digital linocut technique to create a high-contrast, tactile aesthetic that mimics traditional woodblock printing. The Adaptive Logo System was engineered for scalability across high-end catering touchpoints, from letterpress coasters on 600gsm cotton stock to copper-foiled bottle labels. The methodology centered on "Visual Governance"–balancing the quirky character illustrations with a rigid, minimalist typographic grid to ensure the brand felt both artisanal and elite.
- Operation and Interaction
- The brand operates through a "living" visual system where the agave spirits adapt to the user’s journey. At a tasting, the interaction begins with tactile, raw-textured invitations, leading to bottles where the "watchful" characters shift based on the specific spirit. This personification creates an emotional dialogue, making the complex heritage of Mezcal approachable yet elite. By balancing playful characters with rigid, premium materials, the design delivers a more memorable, intuitive, and culturally resonant ritual.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project started in January 2023 and finished in January 2026, and was soft-launched online since 2023.
- Specifications
- The brand identity is developed as a scalable digital system. Core assets are produced in vector formats (AI, SVG, EPS) and raster outputs (PNG, JPG) for web and print use. A modular 8-column grid grid system and defined clear-space rules ensure consistency across formats. Typography uses Cortese font family with structured hierarchy. Color specifications include RGB, CMYK, and Hex values for cross-media reproduction.
- Keywords
- Adaptive Logo, Changing Logos, Catering, Drinks, Mexican, Characters
