Role: Creative Director
Team: 15 (design & production)
Role: Creative Direction across media, event, and broadcast systems
OVERVIEW
This project began as a Chinese culinary competition and evolved into a broader cultural platform representing multiple Asian countries.
The goal was to transform cultural content — food, music, performance, and tradition — into a unified public experience that could engage both live audiences and broadcast viewers.
I built the visual language around Tang Dynasty aesthetics, directly tied to NTD’s identity as New Tang Dynasty. In collaboration with a Taiwanese artist, this system shaped everything from booth architecture to clothing, color, and decorative elements, creating a cohesive experience across the festival. Each country was then expressed through its most distinctive elements in the posters, maintaining clarity and cultural identity within a unified design.
THE CHALLENGE
The challenge was to create clarity within diversity.
Each culture brought its own identity, visual language, and performance style. Without a unifying system, the experience risked becoming fragmented — especially in a high-noise environment like Times Square.
Two years. Two festivals. One problem: how do you turn fragmented Asian cultures into a single visual experience in the most chaotic screen environment in the world?
YEAR 1 — FOUNDATION (China)
The first year focused on Chinese cuisine and regional diversity.
The experience combined:
- culinary competition
- traditional music performance
- Han couture (traditional clothing showcase)
- live stage presentation
This established the foundation — introducing cultural storytelling through multiple mediums.
YEAR 2 — EXPANSION (Asia)
The second year expanded into a multi-national platform, including:
- Taiwan
- Japan
- South Korea
- India
A larger stage and program structure allowed for deeper integration of:
- traditional music and dance
- Japanese tea ceremony
- cultural performances from each country
CREATIVE DIRECTION
My role was to unify these diverse elements into a cohesive experience.
Instead of presenting performances as isolated acts, the focus was on creating a continuous narrative — where transitions, visuals, and staging connected each moment into a single evolving story.
SIGNATURE MOMENT
One of the most powerful moments came from synchronizing performance and craft.
During a Korean drum performance, a master chef prepared handmade noodles in rhythm with the live percussion — transforming cooking into a performative and synchronized experience.
This moment captured the core idea of the project: cultural elements interacting rather than existing separately.
SYSTEM THINKING
The project required coordination across:
- live audience experience
- stage design and performance flow
- large-scale public screens
- live broadcast through NTD
The challenge was not only visual — but structural — ensuring that all elements functioned as one coherent system.
IMPACT
Executed across two consecutive years in Times Square, the project evolved from a single-culture event into a broader cultural platform.
It demonstrated how diverse traditions can be unified into a shared public experience while maintaining authenticity and clarity.