The Full Story

Rachel Dacquisto is a career bartender who'd been making this drink for years before she decided to take it further. What she brought to our first conversation was a flavor she believed in and a flower sketch on a piece of paper. That sketch became the foundation of everything: the logo, the graphic system, the packaging. The brand grew outward from something she drew by hand.

Before any design decisions were made, I needed to understand who Rachel was making Ray Ray's for. She had a phrase that said it all: pride of place. Her audience spans Tucson locals, Phoenix transplants, festival-goers, and even ranchers from Marana — and Tucson's pride has always been about being culturally diverse, community-minded, and fiercely proud. The brand needed to speak to all of them at once. From our collaboration, we landed on fun, clean, natural, joyful, refreshing, southwest, and modern as our key words, all pointing away from the busy, over-illustrated craft beverage dominating the market in 2022. Walk into any Tucson bar or bottle shop and the shelf told the story: Twisted Tea, White Claw, and Truly on one side, elaborate craft illustration from small breweries on the other. The opportunity was the gap between them — something bold enough to stand out but simple enough to feel like it belonged to everyone. Ray Ray's wasn't on that shelf yet. It needed to be.

Building the system started with the logo. Several directions were explored before Rachel and I aligned on a customized version of Juniper — Southwestern flair, the kind of thing you'd see weathered on a sign down in Tombstone. From there, the can became its own kind of world: five typefaces exist on a single label, each with a specific job and reason to be there. It probably shouldn't work, but it does. Beyond the type, the can carries a full cast of characters — the winking cowgirl in our hero, the mountain, the sun, the jaguars, the copy. Every element was considered, and the result is a brand that rewards people who look closely.

What started as one label for Rachel's signature flavor turned into a whole suite. Beyond the custom labels, the system extended naturally into digital and print: social assets, business cards, keg collars, merchandise, and a teaser campaign that built real anticipation ahead of launch. From the smallest sticker to the most impactful packaging decision, every asset draws from the same visual language — bold, warm, and unmistakably Ray Ray's.

The success since has been like a runaway train. Ray Ray's is now in restaurants, bars, and shops all over the city, and people have started making their own art inspired by it — the project has taken on a life of its own, meaning something a little different to everyone who encounters it. Rachel and Ray Ray's have been featured in Catalina Foothills Lifestyle Magazine, Shoutout Arizona, Good Food AZ, Visit Tucson, and Tucson Foodie.