Sai Gon Compass 2025 - Full Size

‘Entering a new era of growth + development’

​This digital edit of a pen and pencil illustration was inspired by a previous design, originally released in 2015 which visually catalogued my personal explorations and discoveries living in a completely new city. Now, 10 years later I have returned to this theme, re-creating a map of the new HCMC as it explodes into the next chapter! 

In the outside ring of this compass design, you can see an illustrated, chronological narrative of the progression of time in the region now known as Ho Chi Minh City, from centuries past to the present day. 

‘Prey Nokor’ which roughly translates to ‘Forest City’ 🏡 is the earliest known name and shows the Khmer influence on the area around the times of Funan. Look closely, and you will make out the tale of ‘Huntian’s Bow’ in the details.

‘Gia Dinh’ was the name given to the city when the Vietnamese ‘marched south’, inhabiting the area, bringing their own culture, rice farming and historically set up the first tax collections and palace to establish the start of a new city. 

‘Saigon’ was the name adopted by the French and this part of the circle shows the influence with regards to the iconic architecture such as the ‘Saigon Opera house’, ‘Ben Thanh Market’ and the ‘Notre Dam Cathedral’. Also, find the iconic culinary ‘banh mi’ 🥖seller cycling past with her microphone speaker advertising fresh daily bread. 🥖

‘Ho Chi Minh City’ name was given to the city after 1976 and in the background, celebrated sites such as the ‘Reunification Palace, ‘Turtle Lake’ and the ‘HCMC Fine Arts Museum’ can be seen. 

Weaving through the centre of the design is the ‘Saigon River’, which I feel captures the shape of a human face. This form manipulation is a common theme in my previous map designs, and I like to use these forms to help illustrate the idea behind my art. Life in HCMC can be a bit of a sensory overload especially to visitors and the expression of amazement on the face of the river helps me to capture this idea.

Inside the circle, you can find the ‘old districts’ of HCMC being carved, separated and rebuilt, piece by piece, forming new areas and locations to explore. The sites and scenes match up accurately to their mapped location. Delve in deeper and you will discover daily life scenes that have appeared in my own art portfolio as well as common expressions and sayings that have inspired me up to this day. 

80 x 80cm paper size