Abacus Row’s Lunar New Year pop-up is a shop of symbolic goods, celebrating the customs and rituals of Vietnamese and Chinese culture. The event logo features a fú (福) character—“happiness” in Chinese—and is commonly displayed upside down to invoke the arrival of good fortune. Round shapes, employed in the circle of text, symbolize harmony at this time of family reunion. The bright and festive colour palette of red, yellow, orange, and gold represents joy, luck, and prosperity, and is traditionally associated with celebration.
As a means of engaging and connecting members of the community, complimentary reference cards with popular New Year greetings were offered in the shop. Available in six different versions, wishes are written in the Asian language, along with romanizations and translations. The design recalls that of decorative Lunar New Year scrolls, as well as that of lucky red envelopes.
Since fruits and florals were featured prominently in the pop-up shop, I created illustrations of these goods for marketing the event across web and social media platforms. Considered as lucky Lunar New Year decorations, mandarins are highly auspicious symbols of abundance and happiness, while blossoms represent growth and renewal, signifying the arrival of Spring.
Project
Abacus Row
Lunar New Year Pop-Up
Role
Event Branding
Collateral Design
Illustration
Environmental Design
Collaborators
Creative Director: Christine Trac
Abacus Row's shelf display with Lunar New Year postcard designs and mandarins
Icon illustrations of mandarins and a blossom used as event advertising on Instagram and on a website
Event logo design of Chinese fu symbol for Abacus Row's Lunar New Year pop-up
Icon illustration of a face wearing a mask as a window vinyl design
To complement the storefront window, which was filled with 800 lbs of mandarins, I designed signage for Abacus Row that takes on the aesthetic of traditional gold jewelry and bullion stores in nearby Chinatown. This is a tribute to our community and neighbourhood, as well as plays on how the Cantonese pronunciation of mandarin oranges (柑) is a homophone to gold (金). This sign is painted and gold-leafed by Michelle “Meng” Nguyen (@allthingsmeng).
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