UX/UI & Graphic Design
UX/UI & Graphic Design
Selected Work on Design Projects:
Selected Work on Design Projects:
Client: Chinese in Entertainment
Timeline: Jun - Aug 2020
Services: Logo Design, Branding, Web UI
Tools: Photoshop, InDesign, Canva Pro, Squarespace, etc.
Chinese in Entertainment (CIE) is a 501(C)(3) non-profit organization based in Los Angeles, California. Its mission is to connect and empower Chinese talent and promote Chinese culture in the global entertainment industry. In addition to the flagship program Los Angeles Chinese Film Festival and LA China Mixer, CIE also hosts other programs including a monthly Writers' Workshop and a Speaker Series that connect up-and-coming talents with industry veterans. In 2020, CIE will launch its own digital media publication Sino-Screen and a membership program to help its community navigate in an ever-changing media and entertainment landscape.
1. SPEAKER SERIES LOGO
CIE’s special event “Speaker Series” provides its community members with an opportunity to learn from remarkable talents and professionals working in the entertainment industry. CIE invites some of the most fascinating leaders who have been involved in many of the successful television and feature film projects in Hollywood’s glorious history to share their stories of breaking into the film industry as well as their secrets to success. Past topics include: digital marketing workshop, completion bonds with film finances, content producing, VFX in modern filmmaking, film industry under Covid-19 and many more.
After talking with several stakeholders at CIE about the event's mission, background, and branding image, I started to brainstorm and sketch some preliminary ideas for my logo design. As you can see from the photo on the left, I used erasable markers, which are my personal favorite in this kind of sketching exercises, to hash out a series of logo concepts on the whiteboard. Only after that did I start to experiment with my preferred plans using software on my laptop. Please see below the two design versions that I presented to my client.
The quill pen and the ink bottle in the logo allude to the beautiful writing of the scriptwriters participating in our workshops. If you look closer, you will find that the quill pen consists of filmstrips rather than feathers, referring to the film-focused feature of our writers' workshop.
PLAN A
PLAN A
The two opposite arrows symbolize the interaction and dialogue between two individuals or two ideas. It conveys the message of Speaker Series' mission to inspire through conversation. Meanwhile, the "S" shape of their combination denotes the common initial letter of both "speaker" and "series."
PLAN B
Similar to Plan A, this logo incorporates the two initials of the two words "speaker" and "series," which shows the power of the two different ideas' integration - the birth of new ideas. The entire logo also symbolizes the proliferation of cells or the integration of two cells, whereby the tagline "breed good ideas" is implied.
2. WRITER'S WORKSHOP LOGO
Sino Screen’s Writers’ Workshop started in 2016 as an informal monthly get-together for professional Chinese writers working in Hollywood and American writers interested in writing for the China market to meet, support and learn from each other. Members of the Writers’ Workshop meet monthly or on a need-to-meet basis to work on their original pitches, screenplays and teleplays.
When working on the Writer's Workshop logo, I came up with a project roadmap for myself based on the previous logo design experience, which served as a guide for my future design projects.
This logo also uses the quill pen and the ink bottle as its main concept, but in a simpler and more abstract style. Also, the ink splash at the top left corner is intended to symbolize the uncontainable talents and inspirations of the writers participating in our Writer's Workshop.
PLAN B
3. CIE MIXER LOGO DESIGN
The Los Angeles China Mixer is a monthly networking event for entertainment and media industry professionals to meet and connect. The mixer is usually hosted at a different venue in the greater Los Angeles area every month, and former mixer venues include Paddle Room, The Roof on Wilshire, The Prince, Escala Ktown, Angel City Brewery and many more. CIE Mixer has also co-hosted numerous screenings and networking events with other non-profit organizations and professional institutions including Coalitions of Asian Americans in Entertainment, Visual Communications, AZNs in Entertainment, Asia Society Southern California, China Film Insider, China Hollywood Society, Asian World Film Festival, AIB Sportsbrands Studio, Final Draft and OnePiece.
Please see below the two design versions that I presented to my client.
PLAN A
The round logo, which looks like a bar sign, highlights the social and vibrant character of our mixer events. Meanwhile, the color combination follows the color palette of the CIE branding, making it a coherent sub-brand under the CIE family.
PLAN B
The neon style of the design highlights the vibrant and energetic atmosphere of our mixer events. It corresponds to the time and place in which our mixer usually takes place. The two clinking glass cups symbolize the newly formed connection and friendship between two individuals attending our mixer. It also alludes to the participants that "your success might be just one connection away."
We occasionally include some lottery games in our mixer events and then distribute some sponsor-provided gifts to the winners. Those small games and prizes not only help us attract more participants but also create opportunities for us to market and advertise our event sponsors. I was also in charge of designing the raffle tickets used in those lottery games. In my design, I borrowed the nostalgic form of old cinema tickets to highlight the film-related feature of our organization.
