Jon Michael Design
Jon Michael Design operates from a different angle than most names in the fragrance conversation. Founded by Jon Dinapoli, the New York based creative agency has built its reputation shaping beauty brands from first sketch to retail floor. Dinapoli spent his career immersed in the beauty industry, learning how a product lives on a shelf, how a label catches the eye, and how a campaign idea translates into something a consumer actually wants to hold. That holistic approach led naturally into fragrance. Rather than composing scents in a lab, JMD partners with established houses to bring concepts to life, handling the visual and strategic architecture around a juice. Their collaboration with Clean Reserve on Sunkissed Papaya showed what the studio does best: translating a mood, a color, a moment of summer light into a complete product experience. The agency continues to work at the intersection of design and fragrance, building the worlds that surround the bottle.
The hits
Notable creations
The signature
How Jon composes
The studio's signature lies in concept packaging rather than raw materials. JMD brings a designer's eye to fragrance projects, shaping the visual identity, the carton architecture, and the campaign moodboard that frames a scent. In the case of Sunkissed Papaya, the agency worked across label design, carton construction, and campaign concept, treating each element as a continuation of the same warm, golden idea. Dinapoli's background in beauty branding gives the studio a fluency in color, typography, and shelf presence that many perfumers never develop. The result is work where the juice and its surroundings feel inevitable together, neither overpowering the other.
Philosophy
What drives Jon
Jon Michael Design believes fragrance is more than what sits inside the flacon. The studio treats each scent as part of a larger story, one that begins with a label, a carton, a campaign image, and the feeling a consumer gets before they ever spray. Dinapoli and his team approach beauty with a builder's instinct, asking how a product moves from concept to shelf and what makes someone reach for it. Sunkissed Papaya, their collaboration with Clean Reserve, reflects this philosophy: a warm, sunlit idea supported by thoughtful design at every touchpoint. JMD works best when brand and creative partner already share language, which is why their partnerships tend to be long and quiet rather than loud and brief.
The houses
Maisons Jon composes for
In the same league