Yingran Xu

SOLO TEQUILA

Background:In an international city like Toronto, there are people who come from everywhere in the world, some of them come here alone for a job, and some of them are away from home. In the quiet evening, they may not have a party to go to, they may miss home and love. Alcohol has been a popular product for decades, and its demand is still increasing; however, most of the liquid is large capacity and for sharing. With the social structure changed, today’s young people who live in a big city, have their interpersonal circle narrowed down, and their life way is busy. What I noticed as a designer, I like drinking, but I could not find friends and time to drink together. Sometimes, I drink alone, and it feels ok for me, but most of the time, I cannot drink too much because of the next day's work, so I will get lots of leftover liquid at home. Therefore, when I go to the liquid store for shopping, I feel pressured about those large format packages, and I am hard to find what is suitable for drinking alone. The small package, like the zip-top can and very illustrated design, made me feel indifferent to the drink style, it is too casual and without interactivity.

“Vincent Zhou and Yingran Xu collaborated on packaging design as a group project. We created a new tequila brand for busy young people in the city, named Solo, which represents the care and emotional value we provide for customers who enjoy tequila and living alone. We took a comprehensive approach to designing the bottle for a solitary drinking experience, making the six-sided bottle bottom interactive and fun. Additionally, we incorporated thermochromic materials into the silk-screen printing to visualize temperature changes, providing customers with a rich visual feast while reminding them to store the tequila at low temperatures.”