Vietnamese Graphic Design

I teach design in Vietnam. This is a great asset that we are familiar with. Vietnamese art and design has been greatly influenced by French and Russian influence and also Vietnamese folk paintings, the colors of which are distinct. Unfortunately, the output of many young Vietnamese designers is increasingly ‘international’, with little to distinguish it from what is being done elsewhere in SE Asia. Maybe Vietnamese typography is another matter… and Vietnamese illustration is certainly world-class kick ass and distinctly Vietnamese. Check out the work of Kaa: https://www.kaaillustration.com/, Mr Phan: https://www.facebook.com/hi.mrphan/ and Tin Tran: https://www.tinsideout.xyz/personal

One of the things my wife had when we met was a large collection of Vietnamese posters like these, which she framed and hung around the perimeter of our powder room. It’s so cool to see more of it.

I love some of the colour palettes. In particular, the green/orange or green/pink ones. They aren’t entirely unique on their own, but combined with the art style it feels very distinct.

My favourite is one of a woman with a basket of watermelons on her back. The colours are like an intense fiery orange with deep greens and almost blue tones on the melons. I really need to translate the messages on them.

I want to learn font design so i can try and make nice Vietnamese fonts. (I know, "i want to learn to code so i can make a dragon mmo" etc)

Using western style accents for the tone marks just doesn't look right. The difference is clear when looking at hand-designed typography and signage.

Semantically, the tone covers the entire syllable. In handwriting this is clear - note the elongated dâu huyền in the first image's "Còn".

The western fonts used in modern digital typography make it look like it's just a property of the vowel instead, which just doesn't look as nice. (And further, gets messy with the actual vowel marks, ă â ê etc)

(It also doesnt help that 70% of vietnamese signs are written in Impact.. anyone know why this is?)

I couldn't find much context on the website but the name is very broad yet the content focuses on a specific aesthetic.

Personally, I am constantly amused in 2025 how much Vietnam loves asthetics like Frutiger Aero[1]. For example [2].

I only see the style from OP sold to tourists or on government billboards, and even then I see vector waves sneaking in too.

1: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frutiger_Aero 2: https://appro.com.vn/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/bang-quang-c...

Wow, this is terrific. I love it. Lots of art online is curated with "traditional" art. This takes cultural movements and finds art associated with those moments. So fascinating!

This is such a great collection!

However, many of the translations are incorrect. For example:

This text:

> Dưới ngọn cờ quang vinh của đảng, nhân dân Nghệ-An Xô Viết anh hùng

Is incorrectly translated as:

> Under the glorious flag of the Vietnamese Communist Party, the people of Nghe An will crush their American enemies.

But it should be:

> Under the glorious flag of the [Vietnamese Communist] Party, the people of Nghe An are Soviet heroes.

There was no mention of "crush their American enemies" at all.

I would exercise caution and encourage the readers to double check the translation.

Edit: after reading more of the page, I changed my post from "some incorrect" to "many incorrect"

For some of the 'undated' book covers it is possible to at least assert the year of print because they seem to be limited prints certified with a handwritten note in French.

Fore example on the Khôn Sống Dại Chết book cover it is handwritten "tirage 1000 Saigon le 27/1/34". So it is a 1,000 copy print certified as such on the 27th January 1934.

I love these types of posters. A couple months ago someone posted prints from Canada's Department of Agriculture. Lots of fun ones there too. Anyone have other examples?

https://www.fifteen.ca/collections/agricultural-arts

Hi everyone! Thank you for posting this site. I started this project while I was (and still am) a full-time student.

As another user mentioned, please be take EXTRA CAUTION when it comes to the translations! The "translations" typically come from the website where I found the artwork from, since I do not speak Vietnamese (am of Vietnamese heritage). The source of each image can be found with the source button. I try my best to fact-check, but since there aren't as many resources for Vietnamese design, I may unknowingly post inaccurate information. I will be more cautious in the future and next time I can update the website. I will double check the translations as well, if possible. I am really sorry in advance for spreading any misinformation.

I hope to dedicate more time to this project in the future. Currently, I am a full-time student and work part-time outside of school as well, so it's become challenging to keep it updated and do thorough research.

I'm glad more aspects of Vietnamese culture/history is being looked at and showcased, being a vietnamese-american myself.

A lot of vibrant color, which is a nice change from muted and flat pastels.

The anti-Nixon one, where his face is plastered on a falling bombshell and he's shooting lightning bolts out of his eyes at women and children, I think that's my favorite.

You can really see the early 20th c French influence here

A word of caution. Before 1975, there were two states of Vietnam and they had total different political and social systems. I see very few examples from the time of the Republic of Vietnam, so the styles you find are not representative for the Republic.

Cool assets! Feedback: the “about” text explaining the site doesn’t show up for me on mobile. This may get shared around more if that gets supported.

I’m a fan of the usage of pinks and greens

See also, India hand painted movie posters.