Interviews with Hannah Sun and Jesseter Wang

We became designers in different ways. Hannah came through graphic design and a fascination with typography and moving images. Jesseter began in architecture and later moved toward 3D and animation. We deepened our practice with an MFA in Computer Arts at SVA, and our paths converged in motion design.

We start by defining the message, the audience, and the feeling we want to create. We explore the story first, then choose a visual language that can carry it through animation, with small, earned moments of surprise.
We rely mostly on digital tools for production, while hand drawn sketches help us quickly test ideas. Tools serve the idea, not the other way around.

Designing brings a mix of curiosity, anticipation, and disciplined persistence. The most exciting phase for us is when a rough scrap of an idea becomes solid and complete, and the design starts to align with the intention. There is satisfaction in seeing imagination become something tangible and finished.

Problem solving and critical thinking are central to our background. Hannah's graphic design training taught her to analyze a problem, reduce it to what matters, and build clear hierarchy. Jesseter's architecture education developed structured thinking, spatial reasoning, and the ability to translate constraints into form. Those skills support our work in motion, where we test ideas, refine intent, and turn choices into readable, confident outcomes.

We want to keep growing as designers who move between disciplines and fuse different techniques with intention. Typography, 3D, animation, and design systems become one language instead of separate skills. The dream is a project that invites experimentation and lets cultural storytelling evolve through motion, with moments of playful surprise. We hope our work continues to feel curious, fun, and fluid.

Watch great work closely, then practice and practice. A project does not have to be ambitious. Quick but steady practice will pay off more than you expect.

Start with intent, then design toward readability and feeling. Build transitions that carry the concept forward. Learn to cut what does not serve the idea. Do not rely solely on trends, and do not treat software as the solution. Build a library of references, share knowledge, and keep making work.

Day to day starts with notes, references, and a plan for the day. We block in ideas, develop motion tests, and refine typography and pacing. Later comes polish, checking readability, timing, and consistency. Small joys include a good song loop, a well aligned grid, and the moment when a transition finally clicks.

We follow motion releases, festival highlights, and design communities, and we revisit classic work to understand why it lasts. Trends can inform vocabulary, but they matter only when they serve intent. The goal is to make work that feels current and timeless at the same time.

A product or project is well designed when intent is clear, hierarchy reads instantly, and the audience feels something specific. Good design aligns concept and execution, removes unnecessary noise, and leaves room for delight. A common mistake is adding details without purpose, or letting style overwhelm meaning.

A design feels ready when the idea is immediately readable and the pacing feels natural. When peers respond with the same interpretation, and no change increases clarity or emotion, the work can be released. There is always room to improve, but at some point improvement becomes ornament. When the work holds up after a break, it is done.

The project we are most proud of is Year of the Rabbit. It blends motion, typography, and 3D, and balances cultural symbolism with a modern design language. The challenge was keeping the visuals coherent while leaving space for surprise. It stands out because it is disciplined and playful, and because it is meant to create joy.

We admire designers who combine concept with craft. We are especially inspired by title designers such as Saul Bass, and by contemporary motion designers who create strong systems and unexpected transitions. We admire animation storytellers such as Hayao Miyazaki for emotional clarity.

We were born in China and we live and work in the greater New York City area now. That mix matters a lot to us. Culture shows up in our projects as stories, symbols, and references, but it also acts like a lens that changes what we notice and how we interpret things. We see design and culture feeding each other, shaping taste, values, and habits over time. When design is thoughtful, it can reshape culture and shift how people relate, remember, and respond.

We collaborate as individual designers, not as a company. It is easy to work with us when expectations are clear. We value partners who are curious, reliable, and comfortable giving and receiving feedback. Our responsibilities range from concept to delivery, and we believe good work culture is built from respect and follow through.

We believe design can give back through generosity. We share process notes, answer questions, and exchange critiques with peers. When time allows, we like to support community projects that benefit from clear communication. We see humanitarian work and design education as important forms of service.

A positive experience for us in the A' Design Award is the recognition and motivation that comes from an international audience. The main benefits include credibility, visibility, and a reason to reflect on practice. Awards can help with career by opening conversations and reminding designers to aim high. Being featured as Designer of the Day would be energizing, because it celebrates craft, story, and the ability to delight.

A major design goal was finding a balance between familiarity and surprise. We wanted the piece to feel dreamlike and emotionally warm, while introducing unexpected transitions and playful transformations that keep the experience visually engaging. Rather than relying on direct narration, we aimed to let movement, pacing, and visual rhythm guide the emotional journey.

The concept developed over several weeks through conversations, sketching, visual experiments, and motion studies. Rather than arriving at a fixed idea immediately, the project evolved gradually through a process of exploration and iteration.

Because the piece was built around emotional qualities rather than a strict narrative, much of the process involved testing different visual languages and motion behaviors. We explored how color, texture, abstraction of shapes, and spatial movement could influence the feeling of the work before shaping them into a cohesive experience.

The concept was driven by inspiration rather than a commercial brief. The Year of the Rabbit and Lantern Festival themes gave us a starting point, but the project gradually evolved into an exploration of transformation, movement, texture, and symbolic imagery.

We have always been interested in observing culture and translating everyday experiences, memories, and traditions into visual forms. Rather than simply documenting cultural symbols literally, we are more interested in interpreting their emotional qualities and transforming them into experiences that feel immersive, playful, and contemporary. Culture constantly evolves, and we see design as a way to create new connections between the past and the present, allowing familiar memories and rituals to be experienced from a different perspective.

Interestingly, this has become a throughline throughout our practice. Across both personal and professional projects, we have continuously explored how storytelling, motion, and visual systems can communicate emotion and human experiences. Projects such as Jesseter’s Starry Merry, recognized by the MUSE Creative Awards, and Hannah’s Blip, featured as a Vimeo Staff Pick, are examples of this ongoing exploration.These recognitions are rewarding, but they often represent only a small visible part of the process, while much of the real growth happens through experimentation, iteration, and years of making.

It also gave us the freedom to experiment creatively across motion, composition, and the relationship between 2D and 3D elements. It also reflects a larger direction within our work. Coming from backgrounds that combine visual communication, architecture, and computer arts, we naturally gravitate toward work that exists between disciplines. Once Upon a Rabbit became an opportunity to continue that exploration through a more personal and culturally rooted lens.

We were drawn to this type of work because it allowed us to communicate and document cultural memories. We wanted to reinterpret familiar traditions and symbols through motion and visual storytelling, creating something that feels both rooted in culture and visually fresh for modern audiences. Rather than presenting culture in a historical or literal way, we were interested in expressing its emotional qualities through movement and symbolism, while bringing in a playful twist.

We used a combination of 2D and 3D tools throughout the project. Cinema 4D was used for modeling, animation, and building the overall spatial compositions, while After Effects was used for compositing, timing, transitions, and integrating the final motion language of the piece. We also used graphic design and illustration workflows during the early concept phase to explore composition, color, texture, and visual direction before moving into animation and production. The hybrid workflow allowed us to move fluidly between different mediums and refine the project from both a design and motion perspective.

This project was a close collaboration between the two of us, combining our different backgrounds and perspectives across motion, design, and spatial thinking. Throughout the process, we worked together on concept development, visual direction, animation, composition, and refining the overall experience of the piece.

Because the project was self initiated, most of the creative and technical work was handled internally by us. Our interdisciplinary backgrounds allowed us to move across different areas of production, including 2D and 3D animation, texturing, compositing, and motion design, while continuously shaping the project together through experimentation and iteration.

One of the biggest challenges was finding a balance between cultural specificity and universal accessibility. We wanted the project to remain rooted in our own experiences and references while ensuring that audiences from different backgrounds could still connect with it emotionally.
Another challenge was maintaining a sense of visual richness without overwhelming the viewer. Since the piece relies heavily on atmosphere, transformation, and motion-driven storytelling, we needed to carefully consider pacing, transitions, and visual density so that each moment felt connected within a larger experience.

We are motivated by curiosity and the desire to understand how ideas, emotions, and systems can be translated into visual experiences that people can feel and connect with. Design gives us a way to think through the world, communicate across cultures, and turn abstract concepts into something tangible and meaningful.

We became designers because we were drawn to both creativity and problem solving. What excites us most is the intersection between concept and execution, where storytelling, motion, typography, space, and technology come together to create something larger than the sum of its parts. Over time, design became not just a profession, but also a way of observing, learning, and making sense of the world around us.

We both chose to become designers. It was a path driven by genuine interest and curiosity rather than external pressure. Over time, design became a natural way for us to express ideas, explore different forms of storytelling, and combine creativity with analytical thinking. The more we learned and experimented, the more certain we became that this was the field we wanted to grow in.

We design motion driven visual systems that live across animation, branding, digital experiences, and spatial storytelling. Our work often combines graphic design, motion, typography, and 3D to create visual languages that feel dynamic, expressive, and adaptable across different mediums.

We would love to design more projects that allow deeper experimentation and world building, especially work that blends culture, narrative, technology, and motion in unexpected ways. We are particularly interested in projects where motion is not treated as decoration, but as a core part of the identity and experience itself.

Observe good work carefully, stay curious, and keep practicing consistently. A project does not have to be ambitious to be meaningful. Small but continuous exercises often teach more than waiting for the perfect opportunity.

It is also important to develop your own perspective instead of only following trends. Design skills can be learned over time, but the way you see the world and communicate ideas is what makes your work memorable. Staying open to different disciplines, learning from others, and continuing to experiment will help shape a stronger and more personal voice as a designer.

A good designer can execute ideas well and create work that is clear, functional, and visually strong. A great designer goes beyond execution and brings a distinct point of view, deeper thinking, and emotional resonance to the work.

Great designers understand not only how something should look, but also why it should exist and how it should make people feel. They are able to connect concept, craft, storytelling, and systems into a cohesive experience. They also stay curious, continue evolving, and remain open to learning throughout their careers.

A really good design feels both intentional and effortless. It communicates clearly, solves the right problem, and creates an emotional connection at the same time. The strongest designs are often the ones where concept, form, motion, and execution all support each other naturally.

We usually evaluate good design by asking a few simple questions: Does it communicate its idea clearly? Does it feel memorable and meaningful? Does every design decision have a purpose? We also value work that reveals depth over time, where the more you look at it, the more thoughtful details and systems you begin to notice.

Good design creates clarity, connection, and trust. It helps people understand information more intuitively, experience products more naturally, and connect emotionally with ideas and stories. Beyond aesthetics, good design shapes how people interact with the world around them.

Investing in good design is valuable because design influences perception, communication, and experience. Thoughtful design can make something more accessible, memorable, and meaningful. It also has the power to shape culture, encourage curiosity, and improve everyday experiences in ways that people may not immediately notice, but deeply feel.

Our approach is rooted in curiosity, consistency, and collaboration. We try to stay open to learning from different disciplines, whether it is motion, graphic design, architecture, technology, or storytelling, and bring those influences together in a way that feels cohesive and intentional.

One of the most important things for us is balancing concept and craft. We care deeply about ideas, but we also believe strong execution is what allows those ideas to truly resonate. At the same time, we try to keep a sense of play and experimentation in the process, because some of the most interesting discoveries happen through exploration rather than planning everything perfectly from the start.

We are inspired by designers and artists across many different disciplines, especially people who have shaped strong visual languages and expanded the possibilities of their mediums. We admire figures such as Saul Bass for his timeless sense of motion and storytelling, Paul Rand for his clarity and simplicity, and Issey Miyake for the way he combined systems, material, and experimentation.

We are also deeply inspired by contemporary studios and artists working across motion, technology, and visual systems. What inspires us most is not only technical skill, but the ability to create work that feels thoughtful, culturally resonant, and emotionally memorable. Many of our inspirations also come from outside traditional design fields, including film, architecture, music, nature, and everyday observations.

For us, design is a way of thinking and communicating. It is the process of giving form to ideas, emotions, and systems so they can be experienced and understood by others. Design exists everywhere, from objects and interfaces to motion, spaces, behaviors, and human interactions.

We see design as both expressive and functional. It should solve problems clearly, but it should also create feeling, curiosity, and connection. At its best, design helps people navigate complexity while making experiences more meaningful, intuitive, and memorable.

Our ultimate goal is to create work that feels meaningful, memorable, and emotionally lasting. We want to continue building visual experiences that connect people through motion, storytelling, and design systems, while constantly evolving and exploring new ways of working across disciplines.

Beyond creating beautiful work, we hope to contribute ideas and experiences that inspire curiosity, imagination, and cultural connection. We also want to keep growing as designers who can bridge creativity and technology in thoughtful ways, while collaborating with people who are passionate about experimentation and pushing the boundaries of visual storytelling.

We think the relationship goes both ways, but the strongest design usually leads rather than follows. Trends often emerge because designers, artists, and creators collectively respond to cultural shifts, new technologies, and changing behaviors. In that sense, design can shape the direction of culture and influence what later becomes a trend.

At the same time, trends can also influence design by reflecting what people are currently interested in or emotionally connected to. The challenge is knowing when to engage with trends and when to move beyond them. For us, the most lasting work comes from having a clear point of view rather than simply reacting to what is popular at the moment.

Technology plays an important role in both how we think and how we create. It expands the possibilities of design, allowing us to experiment with motion, interaction, systems, and new forms of storytelling that would not have been possible before.

At the same time, we see technology as a tool rather than the goal itself. What matters most is how it supports the idea, the experience, and the emotional impact of the work. We are especially interested in using technology in ways that feel human, intuitive, and expressive, where technical innovation and creative intention work together naturally.

Hannah and Jesseter are individual designers, not a company or design studio. They collaborate as a duo when a project needs both motion and graphic design and 3D animation. Jesseter specializes in 3D, and Hannah focuses on motion and graphic design. Together they build pieces that feel crafted, layered, and playful.

Design is the intentional act of shaping meaning, making choices about form, timing, hierarchy, and behavior so a message is clear and the experience feels coherent.

Hannah and Jesseter love designing motion pieces rooted in culture that has symbolism, layered meaning, and a sense of discovery. Their favorite moments are the delightful surprises, such as a transition, a hidden reference, or an unexpected rhythm.

Hannah and Jesseter spend most of their time inside motion tools like timelines, keyframes, and typography. Their main platforms are AE and Cinema 4D.

They feel most creative when they have done enough research to understand the constraints and have cleared mental space to explore. Usually that is early in the day or late at night when interruptions are minimal and they can follow a thought to its end.

They focus most on clarity and rhythm: typography, pacing, transitions, and the emotional arc of a piece. The audience should feel guided without noticing the guidance. Hannah and Jesseter pay special attention to hierarchy, timing, readability, and how design and motion reinforce the same message.

Designing often feels like curiosity, anticipation, and disciplined persistence. There is satisfaction in shaping an idea, paired with humility and a critical eye to continue polishing the piece down to its details.

When a design is realized, Hannah and Jesseter feel gratitude for the collaboration and effort that made it possible, and satisfaction in seeing people benefit from it. They also feel motivated to observe how it performs in the real world and learn what to improve next.

First, they look at intent: what problem is this design trying to solve, and does every choice support that intent? Then they evaluate usability, honesty, cohesion, and the quality of execution. A visually striking design is hollow if it confuses or excludes people.

Design is evolving from stand alone pieces to interconnected experiences across platforms and attention spans. In motion, the future is more interdisciplinary, blending design, storytelling, and technology, with AI accelerating exploration while human judgment still sets intent.

Hannah and Jesseter believe the strongest designers combine craft with strategy and use their skills to communicate ideas responsibly.

Our inspiration comes from culture: typography in the wild, posters, films, animation, music videos, and the way people respond to small, delightful surprises. We feed creativity by collecting references, studying motion, sketching ideas, and experimenting with different visual languages.

Our style is clean, graphic, and playful. We like cultural themes and Easter-egg details that reward attention. Our approach is to define the story, design key frames, and animate with rhythm and restraint.

We live in New Jersey, in the greater New York City metropolitan area. The mix of cultures and the pace influence our design: people here value efficiency and boldness, but they also appreciate personality.

The pros are access to diverse perspectives and constant exposure to new ideas. The cons are that the environment can be noisy and trend-driven, so we stay disciplined about focusing on intent rather than novelty.

Hannah and Jesseter approach design as strategy and storytelling first. They clarify intent, audience, constraints, and the feeling they want to leave behind. They translate that into a narrative arc and a visual system, then explore ideas quickly through sketches and rough motion. Each iteration is judged by clarity, pacing, and cultural resonance. Once the direction is proven, they commit to production and polish the details so the finished work feels inevitable and cohesive.

A typical day starts with reviewing priorities and references. Then we spend deep work time designing frames and animating (with breaks to rest our eyes). We schedule a few short check-ins to keep decisions moving.

Toward the end of the day, we review renders, make notes, and plan the next iteration.

For young designers: study fundamentals (typography, timing, composition, storytelling), and develop your own voice through daily practice. Learn to communicate your decisions clearly and listen to feedback without losing your intent.

Design with empathy and craft—people remember how a piece made them feel, not how hard the file was to make.

Positives: design lets us shape experiences and create meaning through motion. It’s collaborative, creative, and always evolving.

Negatives: it can be subjective and deadline-driven. You make a lot of decisions with incomplete information, and you need resilience to handle critique and rapid change.

Our golden rule is: intention + rhythm. Every decision should support the story, and the timing should feel inevitable.

If something is there only because it looks cool, it won’t last.

Skills we found important to us include observation, empathy, craft, and persistence. Collaboration is a skill too. Ideas become real through shared effort.

Our toolbox is a mix of analog and digital. We sketch ideas and key frames, then move into digital tools—After Effects for motion, Cinema 4D for 3D, and supporting design software as needed.

We keep reference folders, books, and playlists that help us test pacing, tone, and storytelling.

We manage time by breaking projects into milestones: concept, style frames, animation, refinement. We reserve long blocks for deep work.

We also accept iteration is part of the process, but we prevent endless revisions by setting clear goals and a feedback schedule.

It varies by scope and deliverables. Some motion pieces can be designed in a few intense days; others take weeks depending on complexity, 3D needs, and the number of revisions.

We’d rather take the time to make something coherent than rush a fragile result.

We’re often asked: “How did you make that?” or “How long did it take?”—especially when people see motion/3D pieces and are curious about the invisible process behind the visible result.

Hannah and Jesseter are happiest working on short form motion pieces with different techniques well blended together. Because that allows them to play with new approaches, often leading to new discoveries and new directions.

We plan to keep building a shared body of motion work with more cultural narratives, more experiments, and projects that surprise people in positive ways. We want to improve our pipeline, share more process documentation, and collaborate with clients who value craft and clarity.

We can be reached out through email:
sunhanqing@hotmail.com
jesseterwang@gmail.com

From the beginning, our goal was not to explain the Lantern Festival, but to capture the feelings associated with it. While the film is rooted in a specific cultural tradition, the emotions behind it—wonder, togetherness, curiosity, and celebration—are universal experiences that transcend cultural boundaries.We focused on visual storytelling rather than explicit narrative. Elements such as rabbit lanterns, glutinous rice balls, calligraphy, and festive gatherings provide cultural context, but the film does not require prior knowledge of the festival to be understood. Instead, we used atmosphere, color, movement, and pacing to evoke a sense of warmth and joy that audiences can connect with on an emotional level.By emphasizing shared human experiences rather than cultural explanations, we hoped to create a film that feels authentic to its origins while remaining accessible to viewers around the world. In that sense, the Lantern Festival became both a cultural reference and a universal symbol of connection, hope, and celebration.

One of the key lessons from Once Upon a Rabbit is that technology works best when it serves a purpose rather than becoming the focus itself. Our hybrid workflow combined the flexibility of 3D production with the warmth and expressiveness of illustrative compositing, allowing us to create imagery that felt both structured and personal.For designers working with culturally inspired stories, I believe the methodology demonstrates how digital tools can efficiently help us develop the right visual experiences. Rather than striving for perfect realism, we used technology to support atmosphere, mood, and feeling. The 3D foundation provided depth and consistency, while textures, graphic treatments, and subtle imperfections helped preserve a sense of humanity and craft.As creative tools continue to evolve, the opportunity is not simply to create more detailed imagery, but to create more meaningful experiences. Technology can be a powerful bridge between cultural heritage and contemporary storytelling when it is guided by emotion, intention, and a clear creative vision.

Receiving this recognition was especially meaningful because it affirmed something we strongly believe as designers: stories rooted in specific cultural experiences can still resonate with a broad audience when they are communicated through genuine emotion. While Once Upon a Rabbit draws inspiration from the Lantern Festival, our goal was never simply to represent a tradition, but to capture the feelings of warmth, wonder, and connection associated with it.The award reinforced our belief that personal creative vision and broader audience engagement are not opposing goals. In many ways, the most universal stories often emerge from the most authentic and specific experiences. Rather than simplifying cultural references to reach a wider audience, we focused on presenting them with sincerity and care.The recognition also highlights the growing role of design and animation as tools for cultural storytelling. In an increasingly connected world, visual communication has the ability to help people discover experiences beyond their own while still finding common emotional ground. That is something we hope to continue exploring in future work.

One of the most interesting aspects of the project was intentionally moving away from the perfection that digital tools naturally encourage. Modern 3D workflows are incredibly powerful, but they often produce imagery that can feel overly precise and detached from the emotional qualities we associate with memory and human experience.Throughout the process, we were constantly looking for ways to introduce softness, texture, and subtle imperfections. Instead of treating these qualities as flaws, we embraced them as an essential part of the visual language. The goal was not to hide the technology, but to use it in a way that felt more personal and expressive.That balance between control and looseness became an important creative lesson. We realized that emotional resonance often comes from the small imperfections that make something feel crafted by human hands. The experience reinforced our belief that successful design is not about demonstrating technical virtuosity, but about using technical tools with intention to create meaningful emotional connections with an audience.

The exploratory phase of Once Upon a Rabbit was driven by experimentation rather than a fixed visual plan. One of our biggest challenges was finding the right balance between the structure of 3D production and the warmth of illustration. Early tests often felt either too realistic or too graphic, neither of which captured the nostalgic feeling we wanted.A key discovery was that simplifying forms and focusing on atmosphere created a stronger emotional connection than adding more detail. That realization shifted the project away from depicting the Lantern Festival literally and toward capturing the feeling of experiencing it.Many of the final aesthetic choices emerged through iteration and testing, reinforcing our belief that exploration is often just as important as the original idea.

Once Upon a Rabbit reinforced our belief that design can communicate culture through emotion and atmosphere as effectively as through narrative. Rather than focusing on explaining a tradition, we were more interested in capturing a feeling and creating an experience that audiences could connect with intuitively.Looking ahead, we hope to continue exploring this intersection of animation, cultural storytelling, and communication design. As the boundaries between these disciplines become increasingly fluid, we see opportunities to create work that is both visually engaging and emotionally meaningful. The framework developed through Once Upon a Rabbit encourages us to focus on atmosphere, memory, and shared human experiences as powerful tools for connection.Ultimately, we believe design has the ability to bridge cultures by making personal stories feel universal, and that is a direction we are excited to continue pursuing in future projects.

One aspect that often receives less attention is the personal nature of the project. While the film is inspired by the Lantern Festival, it is ultimately about memory and the emotions attached to cultural experiences. Many of the creative decisions were guided not by historical accuracy, but by how we remembered these moments and how they felt.From a technical perspective, the hybrid visual style is often the first thing people notice, but for us it was always a means to support that emotional goal. Every texture, lighting choice, and graphic treatment was intended to make the film feel more intimate and human.If there is one idea we would like to emphasize, it is that cultural storytelling does not always need to explain or document a tradition. Sometimes simply capturing its atmosphere and emotional essence can create a deeper and more universal connection with an audience.

The rabbit and tangyuan were chosen because they are closely associated with the Lantern Festival, but we were less interested in their symbolic meaning than in their ability to evoke a feeling. We wanted them to function as familiar visual anchors that could guide the audience through the film and create a sense of continuity between scenes.As the project developed, we treated these motifs almost like recurring melodies in music. They would appear, transform, and reappear in different contexts, helping to connect moments without relying on a traditional narrative structure. The rhythm of their appearances was guided by emotion rather than plot, allowing them to support the atmosphere of wonder, warmth, and celebration that runs throughout the film.Our goal was to create a viewing experience that felt intuitive and memorable, where the audience could form their own associations with the imagery rather than being asked to decode a specific message.

One lesson from Once Upon a Rabbit is that cultural storytelling can be both specific and accessible. The film embraces recognizable elements of the Lantern Festival, including lanterns, tangyuan, and rabbits, and uses them as recurring motifs throughout the piece.However, I think the key is not just selecting meaningful cultural imagery, but designing how those elements move, transform, and connect across a film. Motion can help turn familiar symbols into a cohesive emotional experience.We found that audiences often connect most strongly when a work remains authentic to its cultural roots while focusing on emotions that are universally understood.