Visual Design Series of the Twenty-Four Solar Terms

Visual Design Series of the Twenty-Four Solar Terms is a visual and branding project centered on China’s traditional Twenty-Four Solar Terms culture. It aims to revitalize the cultural value of modern Chinese design thinking in daily life by integrating the pattern works of Mr. Chen Zhifo. Following the natural rhythms, phenological insights, and aesthetic traditions embedded in the solar terms, the project translates Chen’s design principle of “Nature and Stylization” into a contemporary visual system accessible for modern application and communication.
In its design methodology, floral motifs, avian figures, and seasonal phenological forms are extracted from Chen Zhifo’s bird-and-flower paintings, then geometrically refined and graphically reinterpreted to construct a pattern system distinctive to each solar term. The custom typography draws structural inspiration from the Chinese character “图案 (Pattern)” in Chen’s seminal work Patterns and the artistic lettering of the Republican Period, weaving text into the poetic imagery of the solar terms. The layout language embraces the orderly elegance of Republican-era book binding, paired with linear illustrations and poetic verses, forming a cohesive brand system anchored by solar-term-themed patterns and typography.
For practical application, the visual system is extended to coffee and cultural & creative brand design. Through limited-edition solar-term products, packaging, and spatial visual identity updates, traditional solar-term culture is transformed from “spectatorial knowledge” into “lived, experiential daily life”. The brand endeavors to lift Chen Zhifo’s pattern philosophy and the Twenty-Four Solar Terms beyond historical archives and art albums, embedding them into contemporary living scenarios to enable renewed perception and appreciation of traditional culture through consumption and everyday use.