Chinese Zodiac
Client: Oxford Press
Role: Illustrator
The brief.
I had a very exciting opportunity to work with Oxford Press to create a textbook illustration of the "12 ηθ" which is Chinese for the zodiac in which 12 animals appear.
The concept.
Being born in the year of the Rooster, the zodiac holds immense importance to me and is a big part of my identity, so I wanted to capture the spirituality of the zodiac.
Problems
Space π
Creating the composition was challenging since I had to fit all 12 animals into a limited space. So I used jade totems and charms I had often seen as the inspiration for the forms of these animals. These charms often feature abstracted forms of the animals that can be scaled down to fit on a necklace which was perfect for this project.
Colour π
The colour palette was also difficult as the illustration would be framed on a white page with black text and orange/green highlights. Finding a complementary palette that suits the theme and the textbook was a balancing act.
