Don Rico Spirits, LLC
Don Rico began as my dad’s passion project and quickly became a full-fledged family business rooted in love, craft, and legacy. As the in-house designer, I’ve helped shape everything from the original logo to packaging, murals, and merchandise—building a bold, authentic tequila brand alongside the people who matter most.
BACKSTORY
Branding the Heart of Don Rico
Don Rico began as a passion project rooted in my dad's deep love for tequila and tradition. Rico's journey included many trips to Jalisco, hundreds of tequila tastings, and new friendships in the industry that guided him toward a new vision—to share his life-changing experience with the world. What started as his solo venture quickly grew into a family effort, with my mom, brother, and me all becoming part of the journey.
My own entry into Don Rico began when my dad asked me to draw a logo for the company. I drew up a first draft, expecting rounds of revisions—but to my surprise, they fell in love with it immediately and before I knew it, my logo was printed on every bottle. Over time, the logo evolved as the company did, eventually becoming what it is today.
As the in-house designer, I have helped shape Don Rico into an upscale, authentic, family-run tequila brand. My contributions span across visual branding, merchandise, murals, bottle design, packaging, labels, and more. This project represents not just my creative work, but also my role in building something meaningful with the people I love.
LOGO
A Bird's Eye View
Inspiration for the logo came from a bird's eye view of one the first agaves my dad visited in Mexico. With the majority of tequila brands opting for a side profile view of the agave plant, Rico wanted to stand out with a different perspective.
The first draft began with a digital drawing of the original agave, complete with deep teal gradients.
In the second iteration, I opted for a simpler graphic that removed the black outline and changed the teal to solid black. While this logo felt bold and impactful, the outline was an uneven circle and lacked the sharp, pointed leaves known to a blue weber tequilana.
In the final iteration, I extended the leaves to echo the sharpness of the original outline while refining the border into a perfect circle for clean, consistent formatting. I kept the leaves solid black to preserve a minimalist, modern feel that aligns with DRT's branding.
TYPOGRAPHY
An Imposter Goose on the Loose
At the beginning of this journey, I had only been responsible for the agave logo. The typeface was chosen by a designer in Mexico and the labels were designed by Rico using Microsoft Publisher. As my graphic design skills improved, I was tasked with recreating the labels in Adobe Illustrator and what I soon discovered surprised me.
The Imposter Goose
We built our branding around a typeface I was told was called Cocogoose. I downloaded the entire font family and set out to recreate this design, but something was off. Where were the rounded edges of each letter? I scoured the internet for alternate versions of Cocogoose but I found nothing! It was then clear I had an imposter on my hands.
Cocogoose
This is the real Cocogoose font, and it’s clearly different. Its slightly rounded edges don’t match the imposter’s distinct roundness. The more I thought about it, the less I liked those round edges. While I could’ve picked a closer typeface, its elementary, uninspired vibe held me back. On top of that, Cocogoose felt unoriginal and stale. Since I was already recreating the labels, I wanted a font that would truly elevate our brand.
Fashion Fetish
Enter Fashion Fetish! A bold, distinctive typeface with sharp edges and a touch of art deco flair. I mean what says upscale more than art deco? This font had everything I wanted for our branding: clear legibility combined with unique twists on letters like the “t” and “e” in tequila. It elevated our brand effortlessly, and convincing my family that we needed this update was surprisingly easy.
Labels
PACKAGING
As our brand has grown, so have our bottles.
I’ve led the design evolution for our latest lineup, crafting updated packaging for all three original expressions in both 750 mL and 375 mL formats, as well as our upcoming Extra Añejo, all set to debut in fall 2025. The new original expression bottles are taller and will feature a custom-molded agave pattern in the glass itself. This design choice moves the label from the bottom to the top, giving the bottle a more elevated and intentional feel. Our Extra Añejo special release takes this further with a Spanish tile–inspired motif I designed, etched directly into the glass — a permanent mark of tradition and craftsmanship that reflects our roots while raising the bar for what comes next.
750 mL
375 mL
Extra Añejo
"A single tile holds the rhythm of centuries."
Box It Up, Baby!
Merchandise
MURALS
What Can't She Do?
The only two murals I’ve ever painted were created for Don Rico, commissioned by my family. I’ve always moved fluidly between mediums, but this was my first time painting at such a scale. It was bold, messy, and completely immersive. I’ll share more about the painting process on my mural page, but here I want to focus on the graphic design work that helped bring one of those murals to life.
