Back in Autumn 2023, the Chinese Canadian Museum in Vancouver worked with us to design a series of flags for their Chinese New Year parade. Chinese embroidery, a traditional needlework with a long history, has become increasingly rare today due to its high cost and the complexity of its production. Therefore, in this design, we wanted to explore ways to create a peculiar fusion between this traditional needlework and graphics of today.

For the main flag design, we chose to incorporate the museum’s visual element of “lines,” using geometric patterns (which are also present in the museum’s sphere symbol) instead of traditional motifs like dragons, phoenixes, or peonies. The lower section of the flag features an embroidery that relates to Chinese zodiac that is attached with Velcro, allowing the imagery patterns to be replaced each year according to the Chinese zodiac cycle.

These banners were made by Yicheng Embroidery Workshop in Chaozhou, China, combining traditional hand embroidery with machine production techniques (double-sided embroidery). Thanks to Aoao Ying who worked with us on this project. Rachel Topham did the photographic documentation of the flags while we handle the cut-outs.

Main flag: 110 × 113 cm
Valance: 200 × 48 cm
Pennants: 40 × 42 cm each

Chinese Canadian Museum – New Year Flags