Little Fairy: A Modern Take on Traditional Chinese Culture

Tingting Jing's Award-Winning Illustrations Blend Tradition and Innovation

The inspiration behind the "Little Fairy" series is a blend of traditional culture and modern design. As the world rapidly evolves, so too should our understanding and representation of traditional cultures. By associating different tonalities of flowers and designing their anthropomorphic images, these illustrations aim to familiarize more people with the beauty of Traditional Chinese culture.

What sets the "Little Fairy" series apart is its unique approach to illustrating flower fairies. Presented in the form of Chinese traditional dress cheongsam, these personified flowers convey the beauty of Traditional Chinese culture in a way that is both impactful and aesthetically pleasing.

The illustrations were created using computer software, with a high level of relief technology employed to showcase the exquisite details of each design. The technical specifications for the printed illustrations are 800mm (H) x 800mm (W) (sheet size), with a data size of 1800mm (H) x 800mm (W), 300dpi, cmyk.

The "Little Fairy" series was launched in China in 2022. The design process involved in-depth study of the characters, feelings, and styles represented by different flowers. The designer used computer vector rendering technology to draw a series of flower personifications, simulating the form of ancient people in the window in the way of frame, creating a proper sense of space in the picture. The patterns on both sides of the frame were redesigned according to traditional Chinese patterns, and presented in bas-relief form.

The main challenge in the design process was matching the tonality of different flowers with human images. Keywords were extracted from different flower images and feelings, and then matched with human beings for redesign. The end result is a series of illustrations that not only personify flowers in the image of a traditional Chinese cheongsam woman, but also help people better understand the artistic beauty of traditional Chinese culture.

The "Little Fairy" series was awarded Bronze in A' Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design Award in 2022. This award is bestowed upon outstanding and creatively ingenious designs that authenticate experience and resourcefulness. Esteemed for incorporating best practices in art, science, design, and technology, these designs exhibit strong technical and creative skills and contribute to quality of life improvements, making the world a better place.