Hi! I’m Nguyen Vu Xuan Lan, more widely known by my pen name X.Lan, a freelance illustrator based in Hanoi. I work mostly with digital art, in both book and commercial illustration.
I’m inspired by slices of life happening around me on a daily basis. Every trivial thing has its own story which catches my attention, and I’d love to tell those stories in my own visual language. The dominant themes in my personal artworks are moments in Vietnam daily life culture, family time, children and pets.
The most recognized work of mine so far is “How it was in the 90s” (written by Trang Neko, published by Kim Dong Publishing House). The book is a series of reminiscences from people who spent their childhood in the 1990s, which covers two of my favorite themes: childhood and nostalgia.
Published works:
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“When in Europe” (2024) - zine
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“School time in the 2000s” (2023) - illustrated book, written by Trang Neko, published by Kim Dong
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“Half of the World” (2022) - illustrated book, published by Kim Dong
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“How it was in the 90s” (2020) - illustrated book, written by Trang Neko, published by Kim Dong
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“The Whale that got choked” (2020) - picture book, published by Room To Read
Highlights:
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First prize of “Comic and Cartoon contest – Gender Equality” contest organized by Embassy of Belgium and UNWomen (2015)
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Founder of Vietnam Local Artists Group, organizing illustration contests (2019)
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Host "Draw this in your style" challenge (2020)
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Judge of illustration contests: "Hà Nội là..." organized by Vietnam Local Artists Group and UNESCO Vietnam (2021), "Lấy bút đục tường" organized by Genderation Vietnam (2022), "Eco Project" organized by Acecook (2022), “Your own colors” by Lenovo (2023)
In the press
My collection
