Chinese Zodiac Typografi by Mengyu Cao is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2021 A' Design Award i Järn in Grafik-, Illustrations- och Visuell Kommunikationsdesign Competition Category.

JärnGrafik· 2021

Chinese Zodiac Typografi

by Mengyu Cao

Client: YiQi Hanzi

A' Design Award i Järn Winner in Grafik Category

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Verified Award Winner

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Colors

The Design

About Chinese Zodiac Typografi

Den kinesiska zodiakens typografi innehåller 12 tecken. Råtta, oxe, tiger, kanin, drake, orm, häst, get, apa, tupp, hund, gris. Den kombinerar kinesisk kalligrafi och traditionell kinesisk akvarellteckning. Med designtänkande bryter den de ursprungliga kalligrafiformerna och lägger till kreativa teckningar på ett harmoniskt sätt för att visa innebörden av varje karaktär i sig själv. Kinesiska tecken ser alltid ut som komplicerade teckningar för människor som inte kan kinesiska. Syftet med detta projekt är att göra de kinesiska tecknen begripliga för alla för att sprida kinesisk kultur.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award i Järn

Chinese Zodiac Typografi är vinnare av A' Design Award i Järn, ett prestigefyllt erkännande som tilldelas bra designverk som uppfyller de professionella och industriella krav som förväntas av välgjorda skapelser. Järnvinnare visar stor skicklighet, hög specialisering, expertförståelse och skaparnas kreativa förmåga. Chinese Zodiac Typografi förväntas vara en högt skattad, beundrad och älskad skapelse som är praktisk och innovativ. Detta vinnande verk i A' Design Award i Järn integrerar branschens bästa praxis och har kompetenta tekniska egenskaper kopplade till kunnande och talang. Chinese Zodiac Typografi respekteras för sin grundlighet och är utformat för att åstadkomma förbättringar av livskvaliteten som hjälper till att göra världen till en bättre plats.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: The Chinese Zodiac project combines Chinese calligraphy and watercolor drawing to present each character with its meaning. With design thinking, it breaks the traditional Chinese calligraphy forms and adds creative drawings to it harmoniously to show the meaning of each character. Chinese characters always look like complicated drawings to people who don't know Chinese.This project is aimed to make it understandable to everyone to spread Chinese culture.
The 12 Chinese zodiac includes Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig.
Dimensions & Packaging: This typography set can be used as culture posters as I shown with the images.
Tags: graphic design, Typography, creative drawing, Chinese Zodiac, Chinese culture, calligraphy, watercolor drawing, poster, posters
Production Technology: Chinese traditional calligraphy, Chinese traditional watercolor drawing
Design Challenge: Ideation is the hardest part of this project. How to merge animals form into the characters harmoniously that makes the most sense. It shouldn't break the traditional beauty of Chinese calligraphy. And it should enhance the beauty to show the meaning of the character in a fun way.
Research: Researched on Chinese calligraphy form of beatuy, Chinese traditional watercolor techniques, and culture behind Chinese Zodiac.
Inspiration: At the beginning of my design journey, I learned a lot of Chinese traditional culture. I was taught to have the mission to deliver valuable Chinese traditional cultures to the modern world, to enhance and spread it to the nation and the world.

I also found out there were not many creative creations around Chinese calligraphy compare to English lettering. I want to use my ability to design and drawing to explore more possibilities of the traditional assets, Chinese characters.
Project Duration: This project started in January 2020 in San Francisco and finished in August.
Operation Flow: This typography set can be used as physical or digital posters to promote Chinese culture. People can understand the meaning of each Chinese character when seeing the typography only without reading the description.
Team Members: Mengyu Cao