Creativity Squared: Manifesting the Goal of Telling a Story with Lu Te-Hsing

Based in Los Angeles, Lu is an award-winning creative director with UNIT9 who explores non-traditional methods to craft experiential storytelling and create immersive worlds with passion.

With a background in architecture and animation, Lu loves to experiment with mediums and explore the grey areas between disciplines - all while serving the ultimate goal of building compelling worlds for audiences to get lost in. Recent projects include conjuring up an interactive AR dreamworld for Coca Cola and transforming Flying Lotus’ album art, Flamgara, into an intricate 3D space with Spotify.

Person

Growing up loving to draw and paint, I attended an architecture school for my bachelor's degree which integrated my interest in design and artistic expression with production feasibility. I carried this over to my work at UNIT9. 

I appreciate craftsmanship. No matter which media, I like to sit down and invest time in how to approach the art direction and which technical options we are going with. I enjoy exploring. It's a process of self-realisation. I am always curious about how things work and eager to understand different design strategies and workflows. Doing this keeps my mind open to conceptualising creative solutions. I like to see the world from as many perspectives as possible. Creative directors are no longer Don Drapers but those who can help team members amplify their talents and achieve the impossible through collaboration.

Creativity should come from your natural passion for something that interests you. The process - at least for me - should come naturally because the outcome is something that the creator can resonate with. When I initiate an ideation process, I try to do the opposite of being productive: stop thinking about work and dive into subjects that interest me as deeply as possible- the subjects that give me goosebumps and chills. Those are the things that touch my heart, and they will always find ways to become fuel for my work without me even realising it. That's how I get the purest creative energy. 

Product 

A piece of creative work must stay original while clearly manifesting its purpose. It can be achieved in many ways, like art direction, concept, or execution. Sometimes one small success can lead the whole project to triumph, while other times, a minute failure can disproportionately let down the audience. For this reason, I've learned to judge each detail instead of giving an overall verdict. So many talents make up a project, and each must deliver in order to achieve the overall creative goal. Overall, I always try to find the good in each project.

Coca-Cola Dreamworld AR is one of the projects I'm most proud of, and worked on from beginning to end. We designed and built a whole virtual world from scratch, celebrating Coca-Cola's new flavour creation, "Dreamworld," by hosting a music festival and gamifying interactions within this web AR experience. This project perfectly combined my architecture and animation background with my passion for music. 

Process

I embrace the idea of world-building as a key design method and use it to initiate most of the creative projects I lead. It's a design logic developed from storytelling. When writing fiction, creators must imagine how the world functions to set the stage for the story to take place. What we do here at UNIT9 is essentially the same - but we dial the volume of reality to 110% and see what happens. Experiential projects/ brand activations provide the opportunity to reimagine an alternative hyper-realistic world that has never existed before, allowing us to go a bit crazy and experimental. 

With immersive technology prowess and experiential craftsmanship, we can envision bespoke worlds that encourage people to step outside their daily routine and find a moment of magic. Seeing smiles on people's faces while experiencing an unexpected world always reminds me why I am in this business. 

To avoid my creative energy running low, I sometimes switch to being an observer and try to learn new things during my down time. Although fast turnarounds are quite ordinary in the industry, it’s important to take time to reflect and make cohesive decisions, something which is ultimately helped by working collaboratively with the team. Teamwork is the key to successfully bringing visions to life! 

Press

An education in architecture taught me how to create spatial experiences that connect with people - not only through the building elements but also by implementing objects that drive the narrative. Everything can move the plot forward. I am essentially creating a stage for storytelling - stories that will take place and perhaps even be an important moment in someone's life. This process allows me to play with many mediums while ultimately manifesting the goal of telling a story for the brand or IP. 

With the industry's creative output right now, the rise of game engines like Unreal Engine 5 and mixed reality uses is incredibly exciting. We can now build more cohesive worlds for brands and IPs that encourage people to get lost within. As a creative working at UNIT9, this is exciting but also challenging because there are so many new technologies at our disposal. 

To build an engaging world or experiential piece, I must be able to enjoy it myself and even find comfort in the experiences I create. Therefore, I like to get out there and experience as much as possible to keep my eyes clear. That helps my creative energy flow and prevents me from getting lost in the creative development. Creative integrity is essential to make something memorable and rewarding!