January 2022
Hong bao (红包) are red envelopes that are filled with money and given out at New Years or other special occasions. They traditionally have very elaborate designs, usually in gold, having to do with traditional Chinese design elements or relating to the zodiac year. This year, I wanted to try designing some of my own.
There are three different designs I created: fu (福), knot (盘长结) and lion (舞狮).
Fu (福) is a character meaning "fortune" or "good luck" and is traditionally used for Chinese New Year. Square signs, like the one in this design, are hung up in the home to invite good luck into the house. This design also features traditional Chinese coins. I wanted create a modern twist on these traditional elements by adding a drop shadow to both the fu and the coins.
The second design features an endless knot (盘长结). These knots are used as decoration and can be found hung up in houses. This was special to me as I have my own knot that my parents gave to me. This design also features the phrase ”hu nian da ji" or 「虎年大吉」which means "best wishes for the year of the tiger." I wanted to play around with the typography and create something that resembled a traditional name seal.
A lion dance (舞狮) is something that many people associate with Chinese New Year. In many Chinatowns, the lion comes and dances in front of each storefront in order to bring good luck and fortune to the store in the coming year. After making this illustration of the lion, I knew that I wanted it to be the main feature of the design.
