Art Direction | Exercise

on

23.9.2025 - 28.10.2025 (Week 1 - Week 6)
Caitlin Ong Lynn Dee / 0343801 / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Art Direction
Exercises

INSTRUCTION


Exercise: Analyzing Art Direction Practices in Creative Company

This exercise is where are suppose to be pair in a group of 4 students and we are tasked to selects one creative company whose art department aligns with our programme specialisation areas (Graphic Design, UI/UX, Digital Animation, Entertainment Design, Immersive Design).  From there we have write an analysis of our chosen company, the analysis is split into 4 sections. and each group member has to write one section.

Group Members:

  • Caitlin Ong Lynn Dee
  • Tao Yuze
  • Felita Yesica Ardiya Soewanto
  • Terence Jenifer Pangestika

    4 Sections of Analysis:

    1. Business & Industry Overview
    2. Production Structure & Pipeline
    3. How Art Direction Fits Within the Production
    4. Art Director Profile: Roles & Scope

    Fig 1.1 Exercise Brief 

    Since most of my group members is from Entertainment Design we decide to choose a game company. The company we decided to collaborate with is called "Anhui Huaxing Huichuang Co., Ltd." a studio based in China responsible for art outsourcing projects for some game projects.

    Fig 1.2 Anhui Huaxing Huichuang Co., Ltd Office Picture #1

    Fig 1.3 Anhui Huaxing Huichuang Co., Ltd Office Picture #2

    Fig 1.4 Anhui Huaxing Huichuang Co., Ltd Office Picture #3

    Fig 1.5 Anhui Huaxing Huichuang Co., Ltd Office Picture #4

    Fig 1.6 Anhui Huaxing Huichuang Co., Ltd Office Picture #5

    Fig 1.7 Anhui Huaxing Huichuang Co., Ltd  Work Display Picture #1


    Fig 1.8 Anhui Huaxing Huichuang Co., Ltd  Work Display Picture #2


    Research Challenges

    As for me I was responsible for writing the Business & Industry Overview. However I stumble upon a huge problem. Since the company itself is from China, it can be difficult to write about the company background. I tried searching the company's name on Google but there are not results. 

    I was confused and got I Tao to help me to find a link to the company's company's website or social media account. According Tao "Chinese companies generally don't have official websites". And the only information I can get is a Wechat link. But the problem being is that the company Wechat account doesn't display the company's background information rather it only shows the ongoing activities. Tao also tried to give me other websites links but unfortunately it was locked behind region locks. In conclusion, China's system is generally closed off form the world and it is not very internationalized. 

    I was running out of opinions on trying to obtain information about the company. So I my friends if we could change companies despite the fact Tao when through the trouble of conforming an interview with Mr. Xing, the company's head. But majority of us want to stick to the original plan. I tried to address the issue to Mr. Kamal, he said to use whatever information available use the interview to ask question about the company.


    Interview

    Before the interview I help Tao coming up with interview questions. Questions involving my section. 

    My Interview Questions:

    1. Company basics + some background on the owner
    1. What is his motivation for starting the company?
    2. What is his inspiration and what drives him to succeed in the design industry.
    3. What is his Vision and Mission for the company?
    4. What is his inspiration and what drives him to succeed in the design industry.
    2. Core products / Market
    1. Who are their primary target market and how do they ensure the products (game / design and etc.) meet their requirement?
    2. How does the company stay ahead of its competitors and understand the trend of the market? What do they do differently from the competitors?
    3. What is their competitive advantage?
    4. What is the company’s Unique Selling Point in terms of Products and Design?
    3. Company size and structure
    1. How do they stay nimble and yet effective given the size of the company?
    2. Are they planning to grow e.g. number of employees, new market, new products, new segment?
    3. What are their expansion plan?
    4. Industry Segment
    1. How do they position themselves in the market? Cost competitiveness? Quality products? Innovative solutions?
    2. How do you see the trend / market moving in the next 5 years and how is the company preparing themselves for the change?
    3. Do you foresee AI to play a bigger role in the design industry? And how?
    4. Is AI a threat or an opportunity?

    After Tao finally finish the interview, I ask for a English manual script of the interview since the whole entire interview is conducted in Chinese and I can't understand Chinese.  However on the down side he mentions that not questions will be answer due to some privacy and legal reasons, some questions could not be answered.

    Interview Video with Subtitles


    Fig 2.1 Interview Video with English Subtitles

    Interview Transcript

    Fig 2.2 Interview Transcript

    On the plus side my ask my parents for help to find me a website about the company and they finally found it. Together with the interview I got to work. 

    Fig 2.3 Business & Industry Overview

    Final Outcome

    Fig 3.1 Final Written Report Compilation
    Fig 3.2 Final Presentation

    Fig 3.3 Weekly Project Management Report Compilation

    FEEDBACK

    REFLECTION


    Week 2
    I learnt to be adaptable. Tao was able to look into an interview with Mr Xing, however the interview was conducted in mandarin. I do not understand Mandarin. Anhui Huaxing Huichuang Culture & Technology Co., Ltd is a Chinese company and Chinese companies on a common basis do not publicly share information publicly. My part being research on the background of the company, I had little opportunity to gather information. I suggested changing companies but the majority wanted to go with Anhui Huaxing Huichuang Culture & Technology Co., Ltd. Thus, I decided to go with the team and try my best to use whatever available resources.


    Week 3
    I was not given a specific task for Project 1 but I was informed of my role in Project 1, I am the designated Copy Writer. Tao shared the art direction for Project 1 is to develop a game. The game concept is set in a post apocalyptic world and the main character is a fox. I shared that we should make the design of the fox cute looking to allow players to engage with the character and make the fox stand out from the post-apocalyptic environment. The team however is not really on board with the idea.


    Week 4
    I was sick so I was unable to go to class. My friends are willing to text me on what is going on. We discuss important highlights for the game such as target audience, visual style, marketing, and game platform all those ideas are shared through Miro board. Tao said to do all platforms but to me it feels too ambitious considering the amount of time we have. In the end Mr Kamal said to settle for one which is a PC. As for my part, I will be in charge of branding and promoting since I am the only graphic designer. My job is to create the logo, UI, home screen and pause screen UI

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