2024
YEAR OF THE DRAGON
THE DRAGON ZODIAC
The Dragon, also known as Loong, is the fifth of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Zodiac cycle related to the Lunar Calendar.
The personality traits of people born in the year of the dragon are: charismatic, intelligent, confident, powerful and they are naturally lucky and gifted. In everything that they do, they tend to do it to the best of their ability with high standards.
THE MYTH OF THE DRAGON
Dragons as mythical creatures have appeared in most ancient cultures and traditions.
Their depiction as powerful, majestic, and often fearsome creatures has captured the imagination of people for centuries. Furthermore, dragons are often associated with a wide range of attributes, including wisdom, strength, and the ability to control natural elements such as fire or water
COLLECTION 1
DRAGONS & TẾT TRADITIONS
CONCEPT: Team of Dragons joining forces to prepare for Tết Holiday.
A fierce and powerful dragon (designed in a traditional Asian way), along with three small and young dragons (designed in a more modern and cute way), go together and join various activities to prepare for Tết.
The senior and old dragon is training his 3 new young recruits to take over his role as the mascot and ambassador of the year. Their training sessions include the 3 activities that would typically happen during the special holiday season.
- Design 1: FIREWORK FESTIVAL - The three small dragons flying together with their predecessor and enjoying the spectacular fireworks of the New Year's holiday.
- Design 2: STUFFED STICKY RICE CAKE - The three small dragons helping their senior prepare the "Chưng Cake" for Tết. This is a very special cake, only for Tết occasion. There are mung beans and meat inside each cake.
- Design 3: DECORATING THE APRICOT TREE - The three small dragons together with their teacher, decorate the Apricot tree with lots of decorations and gifts to welcome the New Year.
Each envelope is decorated by a full-spread illustration (from the front to the back),
describing the iconic activities during Tết.
COLLECTION 2
DRAGONS & VINTAGE HERITAGE
CONCEPT: Dragon designs combined with patterns inspired by traditional Vietnamese ceramic tiles art
Ceramic tiles art has always been one of the most iconic cultural aspects of Vietnamese heritage.
This concept revolves around combining modern design of cute dragons with retro and vintage elements of tiles art.
LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT THE PROCESS OF CREATING ARTWORKS
STEP-BY-STEP SUMMARY
Solid color blocking - A technique which helps a lot in deciding the main elements and overall layout of each design beforehand.
Rough Sketches - An important step which cleans up the color blocks and give a more detailed look to the illustration. The design, however, at this initial stage, is still under development and ready for change.
Character Design - This is where the details and personality of the characters got visualized. The final design will then be applied to the Rough Sketches to make a more refined artwork.
Line art & Solid Coloring - The main color pallettes are chosen for each artwork and the solid shapes of each character/element slowly come to live by vibrant hue and saturation.
Color effects & Texture - This is the final step of the design process where the distinct art style and texture are carefully applied.
SHORT DISPLAY OF THE PROCESS
In short, the artwork can be done simply by 3 steps: Line art (Sketch) - Coloring - Effects
