LCBO Holiday Guide
Ontario’s trusted beverage retailer expressed through festive seasonal work celebrating shared moments.
Project Overview
For the past three years, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO), one of the world’s largest buyers of beverage alcohol, has partnered with us to bring its annual Holiday Gift Guide to life. As LCBO’s highest sales period of the year, the holiday season demands a standout piece: editorial in spirit, sales-driven in purpose, and aligned with the broader holiday campaign.
From concept through, preproduction, shoot, and design, we oversee the work from end to end ensuring each edition feels fresh while staying rooted in what makes the holiday season meaningful and relatable. At the core of the art direction is a simple goal: to make every page feel like a relatable holiday moment. Lived‑in, and shot in a way that allows the products to shine naturally within the scene.
The process begins with highly detailed mockups, created early to bring the vision into focus. These help shape the production—setting the tone for the shoot, grounding creative decisions, and providing clarity from the first plan through to final execution.
From there, the logistics come into play. We work closely with LCBO to ensure every featured product is accounted for—tracking SKUs, confirming availability, and coordinating pagination. It’s a collaborative effort between client and agency, making sure everything is in place to shoot confidently through to the final frame.
Our mock-ups allow the client to visualize the piece before a camera is even lifted.
One of the most rewarding parts of the project is the creative partnership it invites. Every season brings a new talented team of photographers, food stylists, set designers, each chosen for their craft. While we lead the planning, the magic is shared. These holiday guides are shaped by collaboration and made stronger by the people who help bring them to life.
The LCBO Holiday Gift Guide stretches our art direction skills in new ways each season. It’s a rare brief: a highly creative print piece, distributed across Ontario households, that must function as a sales tool while inviting the kind of attention usually reserved for editorial work. With hundreds of SKUs, seasonal timing, and a high visual bar to meet, it’s a challenge we return to with care—and one that continues to reward us year after year.