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DesignNewswire · COMO, Italy ·

Xiushan Lantern Brand and Illustration by Xuanli Pan Is Granted the Bronze A' Design Award in Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design

Xuanli Pan acknowledged for graphics, illustration and visual communication design by the international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COMO, Italy, April 16, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ Xiushan Lantern Brand and Illustration by Xuanli Pan, designed for Northeastern University of China, has been granted the Bronze A' Design Award in the Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design category, A' Design Award & Competition has announced. The award was conferred within the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was determined through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.

About the Bronze A' Design Award

The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.

More About Xiushan Lantern Brand and Illustration

Xiushan Lantern is a branding and illustration project based on the Xiu Shan Lantern Dance, a national intangible cultural heritage of southeastern Chongqing. The design extracts lantern shapes, folk patterns, traditional colors and dance movements, and then retells them in a simple modern visual language. The illustrations are drawn with vector software and applied to cultural products, including red envelopes printed on recyclable paper and other items made of acrylic. The aim is to bring the lantern culture into daily life and to support its continuity.

About Xuanli Pan

Pan Xuanli, a graduate student majoring in Visual Communication Design. He has won over 30 national-level competition awards, and has also published several academic papers and obtained some design patents. He is highly skilled in brand and IP design, and has made many contributions in this field.

Award Record

This recognition makes Xuanli Pan a winner of 1 A' Design Award.

About the A' Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design Award

The A' Graphic Design Award is an international graphic design competition recognizing good graphic designs by best creative agencies and designers worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to graphic designers, communication designers, graphic artists and illustrators from all countries. Typical entries include logos, posters, infographics, brochures, packaging designs and business cards. The awarded graphic designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/graphics

About A' Design Award & Competition

Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com

Press Resources

Media Contact

Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953

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Fact Sheet

The Work

Project
Xiushan Lantern Brand and Illustration
Function
Brand and Illustration
Category
Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design
Discipline
Communication Design
Industry
Branding & Advertising and Arts
Colors
Hot Pink, Deep Pink, Khaki, Light Pink and Orchid
Images
5
Client
Northeastern University of China

The Recognition

Laureate
Xuanli Pan
Country
China
Recognition
Bronze A' Design Award
Edition
2025 - 2026
Design ID
#181729

Credits

Team
Pan Xuanli
Image Credits
Illustration Pan Xuanli 2025.

Design Details

Unique Properties
The work takes the national-level intangible cultural heritage, Xiu'an Lantern Dance, as the core for creation. It extracts its classic shapes, folk patterns and traditional colors, and reinterprets the traditional imagery with modern design language. By integrating contemporary aesthetics, it integrates the intangible cultural heritage into daily life. It not only inherits the regional cultural heritage but also gives a trendy expression to the lantern culture.
Inspiration
The inspiration for this work comes from the intangible cultural heritage of Xishan Lantern Show in China. It extracts the lantern shape, folk patterns and dance movements, and integrates local culture. It translates the traditional intangible cultural heritage's charm with modern design language, eliminating the complexity and redundancy, allowing the ancient lantern culture to be integrated into daily life and achieving the inheritance of intangible cultural heritage.
Research
Xiu Shan Lantern Dance, as a national-level intangible cultural heritage, is a precious folk culture treasure in the southeastern part of Chongqing. However, its dissemination form is traditional and disconnected from modern life, making it difficult to attract young people. This research uses cultural innovation as a carrier, delves into the core of the lantern dance culture, and revitalizes the intangible heritage through modern design, allowing traditional culture to integrate into daily life, and achieving the protection and innovative inheritance of regional cultural heritage.
Challenge
The main challenge of this design lies in how to extract the essence from the complex traditional elements of Xiu Shan Flower Lanterns, while preserving the original flavor of the intangible cultural heritage and transforming it into modern design language. At the same time, it is necessary to balance the cultural core and the practicality of cultural innovation, avoiding the rigid stacking of symbols, taking into account regional characteristics and contemporary aesthetics, and allowing the ancient intangible cultural heritage to truly integrate into modern life.
Realization and Technology
This series of illustrations and patterns were created by the illustrator using vector design software. It is made through advanced printing and manufacturing techniques to showcase the exquisite details of the illustrations. Meanwhile, the red envelopes are printed on environmentally friendly and recyclable paper, while the other printed items are printed on acrylic materials.
Operation and Interaction
By extracting distinctive elements of Shouxian flower lanterns and dance movements for creation, the local cultural characteristics are highlighted. A set of eco-friendly materials is designed, balancing practicality and commemorative value. The local flower lantern performances usually take place during the Spring Festival. Therefore, this work combines the traditional Chinese red envelopes with Spring Festival items, integrating these cultural products into people's daily lives, in order to promote and strengthen the culture of Shouxian flower lanterns.
Project Duration and Location
Launched in Chongqing, China in 2025.
Specifications
3600 x 3600 pixels, 300dpi, RGB
Keywords
Branding, Visual Identity, Graphic Design, Cultural and creative product, Chinese Intangible Cultural Heritage

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