Tiger Charm: A new-style expression of the New Year's flavor of young people

With the Year of the Tiger approaching, a variety of tigers have become the subject of illustrations and designers. Tiger element related cultural and creative products have attracted much attention, a number of New Year IP cultural creation has been in full swing, all industries and fields have launched the Year of the Tiger cultural and creative peripherals, from museums to amusement parks, from catering cuisine to blind boxes, the Year of the Tiger elements into various circles, cultural and creative products everywhere. Young people engaged in cultural and creative design and illustration design express the blessings of the Year of the Tiger with their own designs, adding a different Flavor to the Year of the Tiger.

Wooden retreat design for tigers

Porridge original illustration "Meng Hu off work"

Cat cat tiger

Cat Cat Tiger and Green Cute Tiger: A Thousand Designers and a Thousand Tigers

Xiong Yiduo is a post-90s graphic designer in Nanchang, who also draws some small illustrations in his spare time. Before the Spring Festival, she began to try to design the "Cat Cat Tiger" series, the stick figure cat cat tiger looks a little cute, the shape looks like a tiger and a cat. In this cat cat tiger series, the bear one flower has a total of four forms: tiger or sitting or standing, and some also have a hissing posture.

Talking about the original intention of the idea of "cat cat tiger", Xiong Yihua said: "At that time, I thought that the tiger was also a kind of cat, which simulated the shape of the cat, implying that everyone can have a comfortable and mental state in the new year. "The Year of the Tiger is approaching, and a variety of tigers have already appeared in the market for cultural and creative products. Making your own original tiger keychain is more like a way for young people to find the taste of the year. A few years ago, Xiong Yihua found a factory for emergency processing, in addition to sending friends, the other part was used for external sales.

For Mu Hui, who is also a designer, this year he designed two tigers with different shapes, and there is also another interpretation of the tiger. The shape of one of the tigers maintains the characteristics of the tiger as a beast of prey, and adds some artistic creations, and around the tiger shape, the wooden retreat adds a circle of red hair, which means the red fire of the year. The tiger narrowed his eyes and showed a fierce light, "The tiger is the king of the hundred beasts, then it will itself have the ferocity of the beast." ”

In this year's Brand Poster for the Year of the Tiger, a green tiger appears. The design of another path has also aroused the curiosity of many friends, in the view of Mu Hui, a green tiger is more conspicuous, and the second green itself also symbolizes a kind of vitality, hoping to bring everyone a hope under the epidemic, and the ears, tiger claws, and nose are filled with pink, conveying a cute and lively state. The understanding of the designers determines the character of the tiger, and a thousand designers have a thousand tigers.

Green Horse Golden Tiger: Design is also an expression of the present

In the Year of the Tiger, Guang Yaping Studio produced a cultural creation designed the "Cross Golden Tiger Riding Green Horse" Jiyu Gate God and Red Packet, and the protagonist of this cultural creation is exactly - holding the green horse of Ruyi and the golden tiger holding the yuanbao. The door god and the red envelope were sent to different places through express delivery, and this blessing was also brought to more friends. A friend who received the Year of the Tiger Cultural Creation commented: "It took a long time to react to what the green horse means, the scene, it is really too creative." ”

"We are actually using design to intervene in the current society and express our views with design." Designer Guang Yaping told us, "In the past two years, because of the epidemic, many friends have not been able to go home, but maybe when they see this design, they will understand the intention behind it." ”

"We wanted to express our point of view in a humorous way, and all of our designs and copywriting were with some ingenuity. The harmonic stem of the green code and the green horse, people who understand it will naturally smile. "From the designer's point of view, people can be liberated from the rapid development of information technology and resonate when they see this design."

Among the literary works designed in the Year of the Tiger this year, Guang Yaping Studio chose the New Year painting of the door god and the red envelope dedicated to the New Year. Sticking door gods is actually a kind of past custom, but now more and more young people may not be exposed, so this year's design of such a door god, in the current epidemic situation, also has the meaning of driving away the virus.

"The image of the golden tiger is derived from the hand-painted works of children, showing a kind of childlike fun. Our other green horse originally wanted to use the green code to show, but then simply removed the word 'stone' and changed to the shape of the horse, which also echoed the current situation of the epidemic. The auspicious words of "Ruyi green horse through the world, golden tiger to safe house" express New Year wishes. In Guang Yaping's view, in the life of contemporary people, red envelopes are actually like an exchange. Everyone sends out red envelopes, and they will also receive red envelopes from relatives and friends, and it is precisely this exchange that reflects the sense of ceremony of the New Year. Sending red envelopes is also a manifestation of finding the taste of the New Year, and the design of cultural creation is to use a close approach to young people to let them participate.

In 2019, Guang Yaping planned an exhibition on red envelopes, "Lucky Monmy Designer Red Packet Exhibition", through students participating in the design and curation of red packets, so that "red packets" are no longer the intentions expressed by moving their fingers in mobile phones, but a more real emotion and heart passed from the hands, so that the word "red packets" is once again full of festive rituals and temperatures.

In recent years, the national tide style has become popular, and the young people of the Z era have chased fashion and trends, and looked for traditional culture in a different way, which has become one of the reasons for the rapid development of cultural creativity. For designers, expressing their views in the way of design is also the greatest significance of cultural creation in this year's Year of the Tiger.

Meng Hu enters the city: When Meng Hu meets Nanchang

On the evening of January 25, the creator of the original illustration work "Meng Hu Off Work", Porridge, is completing the final coloring work.

Porridge is a freelance illustrator who is preparing this year's illustrations for the Year of the Tiger. It has been 2 years since I learned to create illustrations, and I need to accumulate new works in this industry. Seeing this illustrated poster, it is not difficult to find that there are many familiar buildings inside, Nanchang West Railway Station, Twin Towers, Bada Shanren Memorial Hall, Tengwang Pavilion, August 1st Nanchang Uprising Memorial Tower... Cute tiger-shaped buses pass through the river, and children set off fireworks on the streets, full of New Year's atmosphere. Combining tiger elements with Nanchang City, in various types of illustrations for the Year of the Tiger, "Meng Hu Off Work" has a little more Nanchang's New Year flavor.

Coming to Nanchang from Guangdong, she has lived in Nanchang for 8 years. As a foreigner, this work expresses the biggest feeling of porridge in his heart: "The changes in Nanchang are too great, the new city and the old city seem to have changed in recent years, and the tall twin towers have become one of the landmark buildings in Nanchang." I remember that when I came, there was no West Station, the development of the city was changing with each passing day, and I also had a deeper affection for this city. ”

In the eyes of designers, there are thousands of expressions of creation, but the core is a "play" mentality to create, such as in the color collocation, in the traditional concept, the New Year must be red, representing auspicious, festive, but this time porridge does not intend to be large areas of red, but with blue pink as the main color, "we want to convey a young, lively city state." ”

The creation of illustrations takes a lot of time, from the creation of line drawings to the coloring of the final draft, it may take hundreds of revisions, and the later illustration work "Meng Hu Off Work" also has more presentations in various physical objects. Porridge said that the final product will be launched on the first day of the Chinese New Year to express its blessings for Nanchang's Year of the Tiger.

Text/Zhao Qiong Images are provided by the interviewee