The short version
- Lunar New Year design centres on red, which stands for luck and joy, and gold, which stands for wealth and prosperity.
- Lunar New Year is celebrated in China, Vietnam, Korea and across their communities worldwide, so the right name and greeting depend on your audience.
- The date moves each year between late January and mid February, and Lunar New Year 2027 falls on 6 February, starting the Year of the Goat.
- Avoid designs dominated by white or black, which many people associate with mourning, and avoid the number four in prices or dates where you can.
- Have any greeting in Chinese, Vietnamese or Korean checked by a fluent speaker before you publish it.
On this page
Respectful Lunar New Year design rests on three things: colour used with its meaning in mind (red for luck and joy, gold for prosperity), words that fit the people you are greeting, and symbols you actually understand. Get those right and a simple layout will feel warm and correct. Get them wrong, with a misspelt greeting, the wrong zodiac animal or a mournful palette, and even a beautiful post can land badly.
Who celebrates Lunar New Year, and what to call it
The festival marks the first new moon of the lunisolar calendar. In China it is the Spring Festival, in Vietnam it is Tết, in Korea it is Seollal, and it is celebrated by communities from Singapore and Malaysia to London, Sydney and San Francisco. "Lunar New Year" includes everyone. If your customers are mostly Chinese, "Chinese New Year" is also widely used and understood. Use the name your audience uses.
Name
Common greeting
Meaning
Name
Common greeting
Meaning
Name
Common greeting
Meaning
Common greeting
Meaning
What red and gold mean in Lunar New Year design
Red is the colour of the festival: lanterns, couplets on doorways and the envelopes of money given to children and younger relatives. It stands for good fortune, happiness and warding off bad luck. Gold stands for wealth and prosperity and is used for lettering, borders and coins. Together they read as celebration at a glance. Red colour meaning goes further into how red is read in different places.
Gold on screen is a gradient, not a flat yellow. Flat gold looks like mustard; gold that runs from pale to deep looks like metal catching light. These gradients give you both the red ground and the gilded feel.
Gold type on red can be weaker than it looks, because the two are close in lightness when the gold is mid toned. Use the pale gold for words and keep the deep gold for decoration. Gold gradient design and text on a gradient cover both problems.
The zodiac year: 2027 is the Year of the Goat
Each year belongs to one of twelve animals in a repeating cycle. Lunar New Year 2027 falls on 6 February and begins the Year of the Goat, sometimes translated as Sheep or Ram. The Goat is linked with gentleness, calm and creativity, which suits soft illustration and a quieter palette.
- Check the animal before you design. Posting last year's animal is an easy mistake to make.
- In Vietnam the cycle includes the Cat instead of the Rabbit and the Buffalo instead of the Ox, so a Year of the Rabbit campaign reads differently there.
- If you illustrate the animal, make it dignified. A cute mascot can work for a children's brand; a joke animal rarely works for anyone.
- The animal is optional. Red, gold and a sincere greeting are enough.
Symbols to use and things to avoid
Avoid
- Mostly white or black designs, which many associate with mourning
- The number four in prices or dates where you can, as it sounds like the word for death in Chinese
- Mixing Chinese, Japanese and Korean motifs as if they were one culture
- Faux brush fonts that mimic characters for English words
- Lanterns, dragons and fans scattered as decoration with no thought
Use
- Red and gold, or a warm modern take on them
- The number eight, which sounds like prosperity, in a price or code
- One symbol chosen with care: a lantern, an envelope, plum blossom, mandarins
- Your own brand typeface for English text
- A greeting checked by a fluent speaker
Lunar New Year social media post ideas
A greeting post at 1080×1350 in red and gold, with no offer attached.
An offer story at 1080×1920 for a restaurant, with clear order and collection dates.
- Restaurants: reunion dinner menus and set menus with pre order deadlines. See restaurant social media posts.
- Retail: limited red packaging or gift sets, with the price ending in eight if it suits you.
- Salons and barbers: fresh starts before the new year, with the last booking date.
- Any brand: a greeting on the day, and a holiday hours post if you close.
Gradiently's Designer can draft the greeting post and the story in your brand kit's fonts and voice, then make every size from one design. Treat its words as a first draft and still have the greeting checked by someone who celebrates.
Questions people ask
What colours are used for Lunar New Year?
Red, which stands for luck and joy, and gold, which stands for wealth and prosperity. Warm accents like mandarin orange also fit.
What animal is 2027 in the Lunar New Year zodiac?
Lunar New Year 2027 falls on 6 February and begins the Year of the Goat, also translated as Sheep or Ram.
Should I say Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year?
Lunar New Year includes everyone who celebrates, including Vietnamese and Korean communities. If your audience is mainly Chinese, Chinese New Year is also widely used.
What should I avoid in Lunar New Year designs?
Avoid designs dominated by white or black, the number four, the wrong zodiac animal, mixed cultural motifs and any greeting that a fluent speaker hasn't checked.
Written by Gradiently
The team behind Gradiently, a design tool built around Marks: living gradients that make everything you design look like yours.
See our profile