Crazy Rich Asians

This is a project that reimagines what the movie opening could look like for the film Crazy Rich Asians. From motion graphic to the logo redesigning, I aimed to create a more exciting and graphical approach that embodies Asian cultures when introducing the audience to the vibrant and modern day Asian and Asian American world.

The four frames showcase a mix of wealth and social status through gemstones, gold, ore, and Asian objects with a few Western and modern influences —

Traditional Chinese door incorporating gold details and stained glass.
Pearl necklaces with gold parts.
Jade abacus (an old instrument used for accounting) with ruyi (a symbol of good fortune and longevity in Chinese culture).
Peacock fan (an object that was used only by the royalty and nobility in Korea) with gold beads and pear-cut diamonds.

For the new logo, I wanted to create something with distinctively Asian characteristics. Those stereotypical Asian typefaces that incorporate wood, brush lettering, or bamboo look tacky in my opinion. I based the lettering on the basic stroke constructions of Chinese typography. The diamond shape in the counter of “a” refers to old Chinese coins.

The image of basic stroke constructions of Chinese typography shown below (left) is courtesy of justfont,
a type foundry of webfont service based in Taipei, Taiwan.

The logo design went through a few phases of calming down the shapes, deciding the weight, figuring out the stem endings, and stabilizing the drawings.

If you would like to see the typeface I created for this project, please click here.