In eight days, the City of Sydney, Australia will celebrate the New Year with a celebration filled with fireworks at midnight, and a handful of activities and attractions leading up to the extravaganza. Aerial acrobatics will take place above the Sydney Harbour, while hours later, the Habour will fill with illuminated vessels. However, in the West, all of the activities planned for the event are slightly overshadowed by the manner in which the festivities have been advertised.
A single ‘eye’ has been chosen as the primary representative image for the NYE 2013 event. A single eye…which leads many to associate the graphic with single eye symbolism. To intensify the suspicion of using such an image, there are pieces of the illustration that signifies a kind of illumination. An illuminated text that spells out the word ‘Shine’ is positioned underneath the eye that is featured on the website for the NYE 2013. Altogether, the graphic and text create a message that easily translates into an illuminated ey
This eye graphic appears in several advertisements for the NYE 2013 City of Sydney celebration. 
In the following poster for the event, single eye symbolism runs rampant. All of the trees are outfitted with a single eye, as do the bear-like creatures clinging to the trunks of the trees. An odd, winged flying orb with a single eye and alien-like qualities hovers over the tree tops positioned in the corner of the scene. Moons, stars, a planet, and shooting star are also part of the sky scene. To enhance the creepiness of the overall scene, the tree branches look as if they almost have hands at their ends. 
In the below poster used to advertise the same event, the same odd tree design with single eye symbolism is used. Different creatures are found standing on the branches and clinging to the tree trunks. A cyclops-like monkey with a single eye leans against a branch with a banana in his hand. Other animals found in the poster include the same koala-like bear from the first poster, birds, and a butterfly/moths floating in the scene. A one-eyed metal space satellite hovers overhead, while a rocket ship looks to be traveling upwards. The rocket ship is oddly lined with single eyes here windows should be. 
All about town, the posters are plastered across Sydney. The single-eye graphics are also displayed on the sides of buses throughout the city.
The eye graphic and their accompanying characters are also appearing in limited edition goods that are being sold to commemorate the New Year celebration. The limited edition street banners depict the trees with single eye symbolism – one features the one-eyed koala bear. The Royal Australian Mint (in partnership with the City of Sydney) has issued a commemorative silver coin that comes in a case decorated with the single-eye trees. A range of limited edition Sydney NYE 2013 T-shirts are also on sale. One relies heavily on the single-eye trees as part of its design.
The artist behind all of the ‘eye’-heavy designs and artistic representation for this year’s festivities in Sydney is Reg Mombassa, who is serving as the Creative Ambassador for 2013 Sydney New Year’s Eve celebrations. Mombassa’s past works reveal that he is known to incorporate eye symbolism, as seen in the poster design below, which makes use of an Egyptian single eye located at the top of the artwork.
