(motion design)
(visual identity)
(*produced at Brand New School)

Lens Fest is an annual event that solidifies Snap's position as a global leader in augmented reality and as a company shaping the future of the camera.

With the creative messaging “dream it, build it”, we celebrate the Snap Lens community and each creators’ innovative ideas. By incorporating lens work into our design, we created an inclusive and playful visual system across a vast range of medias: promotional videos, E-mail templates, presentation templates, motion graphics, social media posts and website design.  


︎︎︎Case Study

(website design)

We designed the website for the main event and Lens Awards. 

(explorations)

Below are a few fun explorations from the early design process. 

(motion design)
(*produced at Brand New School)

Doordash Refresh is a playful campaign to promote new categories of products consumers can get through Doordash, including restaurants, everyday groceries and self care items.  

(style frames)

(animation)
(short film)

It’s easier to be a follower than a leader. We have become a society where the pressure to fit in can lead to an inescapable cycle of anxiety. In three short narratives, we highlight the negative consequences of social behaviors through the exploration of motion storytelling.

Our goal is to create something anyone could relate and understand without explanation or language. To be neutral and systemic, we chose simple geometric objects as our main characters. Then we inject them with humanistic characteristics to create an emotional connection with the audience. By using recognizable sounds, we create a connection between the abstract world and reality. We explored self-doubt, frustration, and passive victimization through mood, character and sound design.

Collaborator: Tiffany Shen 
Art Direction: Cathy Xiao, Tiffany Shen
Animation: Cathy Xiao, Tiffany Shen
Editorial: Cathy Xiao, Tiffany Shen

(recognition)
︎︎︎Young Ones ADC Student Merit
︎︎︎Communication Arts 2022 Design Annual

From a young age, we are taught to fit in, despite our innate desires to be different. This story pokes fun at the social pressure to run with the pack and the anxiety that can result.

(storyboard process)
Originally, we were inspired by the movie, The Assistant, which reveals the problem of workplace harassment and oppression. Many of us are contributing to oppression with our silence, and like cancer, it can grow and spread. We challenged ourselves to explore this theme in clever and provocative ways. After a thorough brainstorming of systematic oppression, we developed three stories based on human behaviors that lead to negative consequences. 

Each narrative was executed in 3D using Cinema 4D and composited in After Effects. Since the three pieces relied heavily on timing and sound effects, the biggest challenge was diving into the editorial and inserting the perfect sounds.

I. Comformity (style frames)

(mood board)

(texture reference)

II. Ignorance (style frames)

(mood board)

(texture reference)

(mood board)

(texture reference)

(motion montage)
(branding)

Kanopy is a digital streaming platform collaborating with public and academic libraries to offer patrons free and high quality films. The rebrand goal aims to foster education and expand people’s worldview by showcasing underrepresented voices through independent and documentary films, and creating an engaging platform that connects people for deep and thought provoking discussion.

Individual Project

(recognition)
︎︎︎Promax Awards Spark Brand Identity Finallist
︎︎︎Graphis New Talent Silver Award

(logo development)
Being aware of Kanopy’s educational purpose, I focused on the idea of “connection” and “projection” in the early phase of logo development. Then I was inspired by the grid composition in film stills. They appear to me as expanding lines that grow outwards. They also create projectional space that goes beyond the border.

(logo reveal)
The new identity expresses enrichment and sparkling rays of thoughts. It contains three lines meeting together, reflecting Kanopy's mission to provide an engaging community that connects people and fosters education. The center expanding horizontal line is a representation of Kanopy as a borderless world of cinema. The form's round corners add a sense of flexibility and trustworthiness to the refreshing new identity. 

(tagline)
This new tagline builds up trust and shows Kanopy’s brand attitude in bringing high-quality content and embracing a wide range of voices.

(identity poster series)
The identity posters utilize a consistent graphic language of expanding lines and shapes. Inspirational quotes are enlarged to capitalize on the excitement of learning.

(content poster series)(the great filmmakers)

(content poster series)(genres)(credit free streaming)
The infinite lines form custom typefaces that work as frames to showcase the robust contents from Kanopy. To foster education and promote independent productions, Kanopy introduces credit-free streaming of valuable documentaries to the general public.

(outdoor strategy)
Kanopy will spread brand awareness through mass marketing. Since Kanopy collaborates with public and academic libraries, its target audience would be the public but specifically people who might have interest in films and learning. The outdoor strategy aims to spread brand awareness, we will be focusing on public spaces where people casually go to or pass by, as well as locations that students would gather around for study.

Some examples are public and academic libraries, public parks, campus bus stops, college shuttle, coffee shop, museum, outside of dorm, etc.

(outdoor mockup)

(kanopy website)  ︎︎︎RELATED PROJECT: KANOPY WEBSITE
The new Kanopy website is more image-based using compelling moments in films in order to connect to users at first sight. The website focuses on establishing an engaging community. Some enhanced educational features such as comment, review, and clip creation tools can be helpful to foster meaningful discussions between patrons.

(kanopy app)
The app focuses more on community features and reviews. It is important to create a convenient and user-friendly app because many patrons depend on mobile phones to have access.

(kanopy social media)
Instagram is the best platform to promote Kanopy because it fits the demographics perfectly. I was able to be super playful to emphasize key events, such as credit-free streaming and the celebration of Charlie Chaplin’s birthday. 

(kanopy id collateral)

(animation)
(title sequence)

A Sun, a Taiwanese film by Chung Mong-hong, is an authentic portrayal of a family bearing the hardship of unmet expectations and unspoken grief. It depicts the suffocating reality of life that continues through the search for a solution. The sequence focuses on a single thread intertwining, creating a pattern of lines that form the endless knot. In Chinese culture, it symbolizes hope for family unification. The growing threads represent the family’s reformation after being split by tragedies.

Collaborators: Tiffany Shen, Joie Sui
Art Direction: Cathy Xiao, Tiffany Shen
Storyboard: Tiffany Shen, Cathy Xiao, Joie Sui
Editorial: Tiffany Shen, Cathy Xiao
3D Design/Animation: Cathy Xiao, Tiffany Shen, Joie Sui

(recognition)
︎︎︎Promax Awards 2021 Spark Art Direction & Design: Motion Graphic - Gold Medalist
︎︎︎Promax Awards 2021 Spark Best Use of Music - Gold Medalist
︎︎︎Communication Arts Design Annual 62
︎︎︎Young Ones ADC Student Gold Cube 

(storyboard process)
In the early stages of concept development we were challenged with finding a visual representation of life. We had become too caught up in trying to retell the whole film through individual character studies. After stepping back and re-immersing ourselves in the story, we realized that the essence of the film is not of the individuals but the connections between them. Hence the idea centered around the formation of a Chinese endless knot was born. Then we started sketching out many possible scenes of threads intertwining and interacting.

(references )

We researched both rendered and realistic images of strings and threads to create our version of knot. In order to depict an authentic Taiwanese apartment, we went on Airbnb for reference images and asked around our friends for detailed pictures.

(compositing)

(branding)

Through a publishing practice grounded in cross-cultural collaborations, Archive Books is invested in un-weaving repressive voices and reclaiming the archive itself as a tool which no longer categorizes but rather continuously un-fixes, de-archives and re-archives through non-hegemonic models.

To accompany the book design for In Other Wor(l)ds, I have redesigned Archive Books as the publisher. This new identity utilizes the form of simple rulers to represent the concept of measuring, analyzing and archiving knowledges.

Individual Project

(poster series)

(id collateral)

(website)

(spatial design)

(ui/ux)
(interaction)
(design research)

(what is kanopy website?)
A streaming website for library patrons to watch independent films and documentaries, as well as a platform for users to connect, discuss and explore.

(why does kanopy website need a rebrand?)
Some libraries are signing off from Kanopy because the cost is high while the value is not as satisfactory. Kanopy fails to show off its educational value.

(who are the target audiences?)
The website is designed for both academic and public library patrons. The target audience includes students, professors, ciniphiles and higher education demographics.


(how?)
Kanopy needs to emphasize on enhancing its educational features and connecting users through film reflection and reviews.

Individual Project

(user research)

(user persona)

(user journey map)

(typography)

(type scale)

(grid system)

(adaptive elements)