Year of the Snake by Heidi Hakala

Look up at our street banners and you might see the Sydney Lunar Festival banner galleries celebrating the Year of the Snake.

Heidi Hakala’s artwork, ‘Year of the Snake’ draws inspiration from one of the artist’s favourite creative cultural practices, traditional Chinese paper cutting. Interpreted in a contemporary vector style, the design highlights the beautiful and playful scale patterns along the snake’s body. The snake’s long, narrow shape is accentuated, weaving across the banner in seemingly infinite loops.

Through a traditional vibrant red colour palette mixed with contemporary vector illustration, ‘Year of the Snake’ aims to bring joy and wonder to the contemporary diverse communities celebrating Sydney Lunar Festival.

About the artist

Heidi Hakala is a Finnish-Chinese designer based in Sydney, with a passion for typography, branding and illustration. She completed a Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication from the University of Technology Sydney and a Diploma in Graphic Design from Design Centre Enmore (TAFE).

Download the Sydney Culture Walks app to see the locations of all lanterns, artwork installations, banner galleries and more in the Lunar Walk.