VIETNAMESE ZODIAC CARDS
As a first generation Vietnamese American, I wanted to show pride in my ethnicity and culture through this project. Though Vietnamese culture and traditions are heavily influenced by Chinese history, the Vietnamese zodiac is different from the Chinese zodiac in that the rabbit is replaced by the cat. Hence, I executed the rabbit as the joker. The order of the Vietnamese zodiac comes from an ancient folktale about a race to the finish line. This led me to play with an abstract style of graphics instead of ancient Vietnamese and Chinese illustrations on paper scrolls to reflect the present modern generation of Vietnamese Americans. As a result, the animals were drawn using simple geometric shapes similar to traditional South East Asian designs, but with an abstract twist. I also added a little detail in which each suit was drawn in this traditional geometric style.