Film Festival Teaser Page Officially Up

It's my pleasure to announce that the 12th San Diego Asian Film Festival teaser page is officially up. After months of tedious revisions, we've narrowed down the artwork to this blue and yellow number, and I got to say that i'm very happy with our choice. A very big "Congrats" goes to Yen, our head graphic designer (whom, may I say, i've never actually met as he lives in Texas), and our team of graphic design associates. It's not easy finding one singular image to BEST represent anything- so i'm really excited that we've come up with what we have. It's hip, playful, a little quirky (anyone spot the sock puppet), and most importantly it's memorable. Let me take you through the process of how we ultimately decided on the official design.

1. Back in March we started conversations with our new lead Graphic Designer, Yen, about how we envisioned our Festival being represented. We started with buzz words, descriptions, and imagery that stood out in our heads. These conversations had us going down a path towards "Adventures, Balloons, Up in the Air, Fantastical Journeys, etc". Which ultimately got us towards these first few designs.

2. They resonated with us for a little while, and we definitely still used them- first for the call for entries card, and then for our Spring Showcase design. We thought that at that specific moment in time, that those images best represented our organization and how we should be perceived. They were fun, whimsical, and definitely offered a good number of opportunities for layout.

3. Post Spring Showcase we started thinking hard about exactly how we were going to use what we had for the Festival. We had Yen come up with a few more related, but newer graphics for us to test out with the Asian Film Festival language. Although we liked them, and they were good, there was still something missing. We threw around more buzz words "explore" "new heights" "even MORE balloons." Still didn't have anything that we really could say "this is our Festival"

4. So we quite literally went back to the drawing board and told Yen, how about we give you ZERO Direction. How about you come up with some designs that you think are bold and creative. And we got exactly what we wanted from him. By openly admitting that maybe we were the ones giving bad advice and not forcing ourselves to commit to the balloon images, we were able to let Yen on a free for all and design what he thought might look best. He sent us back designs soon after and we got exactly what we wanted- really bright and fun images that when looked upon, we knew represented our Festival.

5. We decided upon the quirky circle image with the characters around the perimeter. I've got a soft spot for simple, two color graphics- and this was it. Next we had him give us a series of different color options. We ultimately decided upon the yellow and blue (although even just choosing the colors provided a few sleepless nights). We thought that the blue popped on the yellow background and was clear enough to read (there were a few images that I really liked originally...but the colors were either too bright or too distracting). We also thought that they were safe San Diego Colors (Chargers..UCSD...the Sun).

6. The final step was having Yen actually create specific and detailed images to replace the ones currently around the perimeter of the circle. We went back and forth on whether or not we should really put Yen through that labor...but it was totally worth it. He designed special images that each represent a film at the festival or an aspect of SDAFF. I'm not going to list out quite yet the meaning behind each image- that's a game you can play. But I do guarantee that each one of them does have a story behind it.

A few more brief revisions and 'Voila' the 12th San Diego Asian Film Festival design is complete. We hope that you enjoy and share with all your friends and family. We've got some very special plans for it soon...be on the look out. Thanks!

Check out more of YEN's Designs