Inspired by how a brand such as Tiger Balm seem to carry a deep sense of meaning and nostalgia for the people of Asia, I was intrigued to see how I could reimagine this cultural gem the Vietnamese ‘Hoat lac Cao’/Tiger Balm brand with it’s iconic white tiger.
Focusing at first on just the logo, I changed the style of the white tiger and the font of the word mark and posted it on my instagram. Shortly after posting it, Nga Hoang, a Vietnamese Travel Journalist and part owner of Collective Memory Vietnam approached me with an idea to launch an art print series for my Tiger Balm rebrand concept.
Nga Hoang offered ideas and feedback while I created a visual language through illustration for the Tiger Balm art prints. The one you can see here is the first A4 size art print of the series and was inspired by Vietnam’s abundance of forests and in particular the banana tree. The Vietnamese lady standing atop the tiger balm tiger is wearing a traditional Vietnamese dress and conical hat with an almost dance-like posture expressing her fearless, free spirited and independent nature.
The art print is available exclusively from The Collective Memory shop in the French Quarter of Hanoi. Can’t make it to their shop? Contact them here for online purchase and shipping enquiries.
July 2019