Give three distinct brands a recognisable regional presence across very different markets and retail formats.
Brand Design Lead · Hong Kong
01 / China Duty Free
China Duty Free: Building a Brand System Across APAC
2022–2024
Creative Manager (2D) · Brand Systems & Campaigns
Project in brief
One visual system across brands, campaigns and retail environments.
A regional design system connecting three duty-free brands across identity, campaigns, digital platforms and physical retail in Hong Kong and selected APAC markets.
Led day-to-day 2D visual development, seasonal themes, master key visuals and customer-facing rollout, working with specialist teams on spatial and production delivery.
Context & Scope
cdf International, Duty Zero and cdf Beauty were expanding across Hong Kong and selected APAC markets. The opportunity was to give the three brands a recognisable regional presence without flattening their individual roles or importing mainland executions unchanged.
I took day-to-day ownership of the 2D visual system after the initial direction-setting phase. My work connected identity applications, seasonal key visuals and digital standards with the customer-facing graphics seen across airport, downtown, cruise and flagship retail.
I developed the visual direction and master assets, directed rollout with the internal team and vendors, and reviewed final output. Spatial planning, engineering, construction and installation remained with the relevant 3D and production specialists.
Building the Brand System
System Foundations
The first priority was a practical foundation that could survive constant use. Logo construction, colour, typography and layout rules were developed as working standards rather than presentation-only guidelines.
Those standards gave internal teams and external partners a shared reference for POSM, packaging, signage and campaign production while preserving the character of each brand.
cdf International and Duty Zero logo lockups on black.
Duty Zero monogram construction grid and geometry.
Animated corporate colour-system graphic.
Hong Kong Localisation
For Hong Kong, I reworked the promotional system around a clearer information hierarchy and more controlled typography. The result retained group recognition while responding to a denser, faster-moving retail environment.
The redesign made product, price and campaign messages easier to organise across formats without making every execution look identical.
Hong Kong POSM redesign comparison across promotional formats.
Physical & Digital Governance
The same logic extended into wayfinding and platform-specific communication. I designed the customer-facing graphic hierarchy for signage, then provided visual direction and vendor review for Xiaohongshu, WeChat and Mini Program applications.
Rather than forcing one layout everywhere, the system defined which brand cues had to remain stable and which could adapt to channel, format and market.
Category-navigation and signage matrix using brown/gold retail cues.
Mobile-platform UI and visual-system update screens.
Xiaohongshu / Little Red Book visual redesign comparison.
WeChat Mini Program redesign across multiple mobile screens.
Campaign Leadership
Each seasonal campaign began with a central theme and master key visual that I developed. From that starting point, I directed the 2D rollout across POSM, social content, retail screens, promotional materials and selected customer gifts.
Working with the 3D Manager, I also helped translate the campaign idea into decorative treatments, display structures, lighting, VM props and shopfront applications. This kept the physical experience connected to the original creative direction.
Array of seasonal campaign master key visuals.
Selected Seasonal Campaigns
The Spring, Summer and Lunar New Year programmes show how one visual idea could flex across different brands and retail moments.
For cdf Beauty Spring 2023, I created the seasonal theme and master visual before co-leading its translation into a beauty-led environment. Duty Zero Summer 2023 extended a new campaign idea into promotional and VM applications. The 2024 Lunar New Year direction combined festive key visuals, character assets and customer-facing gifts within one system.
Duty Zero “Discover Masterpieces” wine-collection key visual.
2023 cdf Beauty Spring campaign from 2D narrative to in-store rollout.
2023 Duty Zero Summer campaign from 2D blueprint to physical VM.
2024 Lunar New Year C-LOONG character asset, KVs and physical rollout.
Retail Experience
Experience Leadership
As the business expanded, the work moved from campaign graphics into permanent and semi-permanent retail experience. I co-led the customer-visible layer with the 3D Manager, aligning shopfront communication, lightboxes, displays, POSM, lighting and VM elements with the brand system.
My responsibility was the continuity between what customers saw in campaign communication and what they encountered in the store. Vendors and production partners were briefed and reviewed against that shared direction.
Hong Kong downtown stores overview
Store overview shown as project context. My contribution focused on the customer-facing 2D visual system and rollout.
Duty Zero Causeway Bay flagship shopfront.
Duty Zero Central flagship shopfront.
High-end curated-store display and merchandising detail.
Interior close-up matrix of displays, counters and fixtures.
Duty Zero airport shopfront photographed as 2021 baseline.
Second airport shopfront / concourse view from the legacy baseline.
Redesigned Duty Zero airport concourse storefront.
Circular central product display and ceiling feature inside the airport store.
Liquor shelving and aisle merchandising view.
Circular retail zone with campaign displays and promotional touchpoints.
Shopfront and digital-screen application with blue campaign graphics.
Compact Duty Zero storefront with branded entrance and display.
Store entrance with freestanding promotional display and wayfinding.
Wide airport storefront with illuminated signage and campaign screen.
Gold pavilion-style jewellery display, frontal view.
Gold pavilion-style jewellery display, three-quarter view.
Surreal Island · cdf Macau
Surreal Island transformed the Grand Lisboa Palace flagship into a synchronised digital environment where luxury products became characters within a surreal animated world.
The concept was developed with Superunion and illustrator Paolo Torres. Within cdfi’s internal creative team, I coordinated the visual rollout and adaptation across nine displays, including large-format walls and an overhead screen.
The project received a 2022 Gold Case for Innovative Scenario Marketing at the China International Advertising Festival and was featured by Campaign Asia.
Surreal Island · cdf Macau — overview film
Project overview documenting the synchronised nine-screen retail environment. The concept was developed with Superunion and illustrator Paolo Torres; I coordinated visual rollout and adaptation within cdfi’s internal creative team.
Surreal Island award-board montage with immersive visuals and recognition.
Hand-drawn shopfront concept sketch for Surreal Island.
Hand-drawn pillar concept and construction notes.
Further pillar / 360-degree environment sketch with annotations.
Completed surreal forest visual used across the installation.
Surreal Island character and product-creature library.
Award-certificate and event-screen photograph for the 2022 Gold Case.
Regional Rollouts
Port City Colombo
Regional expansion tested whether the system could remain recognisable in very different spaces. For Port City Colombo, I co-led the customer-facing visual development of the 2,000-square-metre duty-free destination, covering shopfront graphics, lightboxes, displays and promotional applications.
The work was developed with spatial, production and local-market teams so the identity could respond to the architecture without losing its core visual logic.
Port City Colombo interior with cdf signage and regional messaging.
Wide Port City Colombo open shopfront.
Port City Colombo cosmetics retail interior.
Beauty-display and fixture view in Port City Colombo.
Branded beauty wall / AI-assisted lightbox graphic in store.
Premium Duty Zero product-packaging architecture on black.
Siem Reap–Angkor
At Siem Reap–Angkor International Airport, I developed and reviewed brand, window and visual-merchandising applications that combined Duty Zero’s retail identity with local architectural references.
The aim was not decorative localisation. It was a coherent airport experience in which regional context and brand recognition could coexist.
Duty Zero Siem Reap opening ceremony
Opening ceremony shown as regional launch context.
Duty Zero Siem Reap airport store entrance with local architectural cues.
Wide Siem Reap interior with ceiling and aisle system.
Siem Reap liquor retail floor.
Moutai Family flagship area inside the airport store.
Tobacco retail area with branded bays and digital content.
Tobacco display and merchandising detail.
Adora Magic City
Adora Magic City required the visual system to work within a non-standard cruise environment. I co-led branded retail communication and VM applications across the maritime space.
The rollout connected the customer-facing brand language with shopfront graphics, product displays and launch communication aboard the vessel.
Adora Magic City retail walkthrough
Retail walkthrough shown as maritime launch context.
Aerial photograph of the Adora Magic City cruise ship.
Duty-free shopfront aboard Adora Magic City.
Cruise retail interior with jewellery / product counters.
Crowded opening or retail-event photograph aboard the cruise environment.
ZERObot
For the ZERObot activation, I developed campaign key visuals and short-form motion through a controlled GenAI-assisted workflow.
Generated elements were manually art directed, composited and reviewed before use, then adapted for digital and retail communication around the robotic-bartender experience.
ZERObot — award and activation reel
Short-form activation reel. My contribution focused on campaign key visuals, GenAI-assisted visual development and motion asset adaptation; the award recognises the wider ZERObot activation.
ZERObot master KV featuring robotic hands and product.
ZERObot autonomous robotic-bartender installation in retail.
Outcome & Credits
Across two years, the work established a clearer visual foundation for three brands and a repeatable path from identity to campaign and retail delivery. Internal teams and external partners had more usable guidance, while individual markets and formats retained room to adapt.
- Client
- China Duty Free International
- Role
- Creative Manager (2D) — Brand systems, campaigns and retail experience
- Brands
- cdf International · Duty Zero · cdf Beauty
- Selected creative partners
- Superunion · Paolo Torres
- Delivery
- Developed with internal teams, local-market teams, vendors, fabricators and specialist production partners