In early 2024, the illustration I created for Royal Salute's Lunar New Year Special Edition — in collaboration with Boundless Brand Design — was recognised with a Silver Award by the World Brand Design Society (WBDS), one of the leading international bodies celebrating excellence in brand and packaging design.
The commission asked me to interpret the theme of Ignite the New Year for Royal Salute's 21-year-old Scotch whisky. Born in China and now based in London, I found the brief both personally resonant and creatively open: how do you capture the energy, warmth, and expansiveness of the Lunar New Year in an image that must also feel luxurious, timeless, and global?
The resulting illustration drew on my practice of layering Eastern visual traditions with contemporary sensibility — rich colour, intricate line work, celebratory motifs — while maintaining the restraint that a luxury spirits brand requires. Working with the Boundless team was a genuine collaboration, their understanding of the brand complementing the illustration's narrative.
To have that work recognised by the WBDS was a welcome acknowledgement that illustration has a meaningful place in the world of luxury brand design — not as surface decoration but as a way of storytelling at scale.