2024 New Years Card

At the beginning of the year, Japanese people traditionally exchange New Year's cards to wish one another health and happiness in the year ahead. For 2024, the Year of the Dragon, we created a New Year's card inspired by an "ascending dragon," a symbol of rising fortune and strength.

Drawn across the scales of the 3.5-meter dragon are the four seasons of Japan: the sunrise that signals the start of the year, spring cherry blossoms, rainy season umbrellas, summer fireworks shared with loved ones, the joy of autumn harvests, winter snow crystals, and finally the sunset that marks the close of another year.

These transitions are expressed through a gradient reminiscent of the obi on a festive kimono. By layering emotional shifts onto the changing seasons and onto the passage of time from sunrise to sunset, we aimed to evoke a scene that has likely remained deeply relatable, past and present, for anyone raised in this country.

We layered that seasonal progression into the dragon's ascent, filling it with hope and anticipation for the year ahead. In print, the card is read by physically drawing it along like an illustrated scroll, while in digital form it is revealed through scrolling, turning the act of reading the card itself into the dragon's upward rise.