Jeffrey Su is a 3D designer at Imaginary Forces, the famous Los Angeles graphic design studio responsible for trailers & intros for Stranger Things, Mad Men, Percy Jackson and many more. He kindly agreed to do a presentation to all our Art students about his fascinating career journey. It was so inspiring, we would like to share it with you now. If you would like to see video examples of the work Jeffrey does check out his Instagram and the Imaginary Forces website.

Q) When you left Concord in 2014, you went to read architecture, What made you choose that path?

"My photography and creative thinking skills started to become more developed during my Concord years, especially during A-levels, and that's when I decided I wanted to become an architect. Why architecture? Because probably that's the safest option when you are into art and design, but you have Asian parents!

My mom is a true artist, so she doesn't really care what I did for a career. She said “you can do whatever, as long as it's creative”, that's her ask. But my dad is this businessman, and they got separated quite early, so my dad said “maybe choose a safer option, and something more stable” at that point.

And that's me, back in Concord, about to graduate, not knowing what would happen next, and I was super naive, but excited.”

Q) What was your experience at university?

“I moved to London to start at the Westminster Architecture Programme. It was the first time I ever felt alone. Concord had been a ‘perfect bubble’ and everyone was your friend, your teacher, your peer. Everyone’s so close, it’s like a huge family.

When you move to London by yourself, all of a sudden you’re just a person, you’re just alone. That was the first time I had experienced loneliness and anxiety. I became uncertain about my future, and started to question whether I actually enjoyed architecture or not.

Slowly, I became more reserved, not wanting to share negative emotions to those closest to me. I still took a lot of photos, but those became more or an escape rather than something I loved to do.

I put on a ‘mask’, and everything just started to crumble down a little bit. I was very unhappy, but I wouldn't share that with my family and would tell them everything is fine. I was really starting to hurt, and, started looking for a different alternative. By the end of 2015, or early 2016, I moved back to China and decided not to come back to the UK.

And….I decided not to share this news with my family. I would, take on this adventure alone, by myself.”

Q) Do you think with hindsight this was the right thing to do?

“Now looking back, it was a little naive and weird, but at the time, I thought that that was my quest. So I started my journey from up north from Beijing, and I took buses and trains, no planes, and I would buy the cheapest ticket, because I wanted to save money and visited every single city I'd never been to.

I think the deepest reason, now looking back, is finding that culture connection that I missed back in the UK as I left China quite early at just 12 or 13 years. I really never developed a creative connection with Chinese culture. And during the time in London, when I was alone, I felt like I was really craving for that connection.”

Q) What did you do while travelling?

“So going back to China, I wanted to use my camera to capture everything I saw and rebuild that connection somehow. And I thought, maybe through that journey, it would reignite my passion for architecture, and maybe find some new solutions I've been missing.

So, I travelled, took pictures and encountered interesting people, beautiful sceneries, and weird stuff, and all of them I captured with my camera."

Q) What made you stop travelling and what did you do next?

“I was on the 10th stop of my road trip alone, and I ended up in a town called Jingdezhen. And this little town is not well developed, it's super rural, it almost feels like a countryside. But, historically, has been making porcelain for 5,000 years, and it has always been the place from which China exported porcelain ever since the Song Dynasty, or even earlier.

And porcelain was possibly one of the first global commodities that was sold over the world and exported, and I was instantly intrigued by this historical location, and not just historical aspect of this city. I saw lots and lots of young craftsmen experimenting, working with their hands, and developing new things with this porcelain medium, and I was captivated immediately."

"Initially, I wanted to capture the scene with my camera and get to know more of the young Chinese artists in the city, but eventually I started to learn how to make porcelain and become a part of that thing.

A year into the Jingdezhen journey I was surprised that I haven't left, because the original plan was to travel across China and see different kinds of architectures, and see different people, but I was just stuck there, because it was so interesting. There was so much more to see, so much more to learn, and so much to absorb in that location.

Together with a few close friends, we started to start our own little porcelain studio deep in the mountains.

Here’s an aerial view of the little village that we chose, and we found this super broken down building, almost like a farmhouse, and we just started to rebuild everything."

"And that was when my creativity starts to spike, because I study a little bit of architecture, my mom does interior design.

I loved photography, I loved making things with my hands, and this was, like, a brand new playground for me to experiment and start building things from scratch. So we started redesigning the little courtyard, the little workshop area in the back, and, working with the local craftsmen, started laying bricks to build a little landscape in our little backyard."

"We did interior design, exterior design and planted lotus leaves in the garden. We also made furniture. We wanted this display case in the main lobby, and I just started to make models, and send out drawings, and asked the factory to manufacture things for us.

And I would say that was really fearless, and it was just full of passion, because everything was, just brand new to me, and there's no limit for me on what I wanted to try.

We were making packages and branded stuff for the studios, so it's a whole package. We're starting a little business right there!"

"And most importantly, of course, we were making beautiful, beautiful porcelain, and this is our signature piece. We call it the ‘pickock' glaze. We spent days, even years to research and develop this specific look. The main ingredient we used is called plant ash glazes. Everything was organic, we didn’t use chemicals, and we used different kinds of vegetations to burn them down into ashes. And in those ashes, we have some non-organic matters that was obtained from the soil where the plant or the vegetation was growing. So we would source different kinds of wood, vegetations, and ashes from all over the country, and start to experiment with those.

We fired them in the traditional way. We built our own kiln, and we rented out a tiny, tiny place deep in the mountain, and everything we used was just pure wood to control the temperatures.

And the final product was absolutely stunning. I'm still amazed about how beautiful these pieces looked."

Q) Did your parents know what you were doing by now?

"Eventually, by the third year of our studio, we started profiting and the brand was established. Things then became a little repetitive, and more like a business.

And bear in mind, I haven't told my parents what I was doing for the past 3 years. So during that time, it was this young lady, who came into my life again. We broke up when I first left London, and Jennifer now is my wife. She reached out to me again, and she told me, hey, hey Jeffrey, why haven't you told your parents about what you're doing, or what you're up to?”

"And I just told her, I don't have the courage. I feel like it's been so long, and I've lived this double life for so long, I just don't know how. But she sat me down and spent hours with me and tried to resolve my internal conflicts. Eventually, she gave me the courage to first tell my mom, then I told my dad, and then Mr. Hudson about what had happened over the past 3 years."

Q) How did they react?

"My dad was surprised at first, but I was even more surprised, because he didn't blame me for what I went through. And he blamed himself for not noticing, and not communicating well enough with me throughout those years. He thanked me for telling him everything and wanted to reconnect. And since then, our relationship has got so much better."

Q) You’re speaking to us from the USA, how did you come to leave China?

"I asked my dad the question, ‘so what now? Should I continue the porcelain business? Should I do something else in China? Or, you know, what's the plan?’ And my dad was like, actually, we're all moving to the US, we're emigrating.

And that was a huge shift in my life! I  thought ‘oh, wow, interesting. United States, I've never even thought about going to that place’, because before it was just UK and China.

My dad suggested choosing another university, or design college, and going there. I thought I was too old to go back to school. I was 22 or 23, and I wanted to do stuff, and I've already done stuff with my hands. I had built a porcelain studio. And I told him, ‘maybe I'm fine without it?’

And my dad pointed out one thing; ‘you don't want the degree, but you want the experience, the complete experience.’"

Q) How did you choose your next degree course?

“I had zero knowledge about design schools or art schools in the States, especially in West Coast. I'd been to New York, but I'd never been to Los Angeles.

So, when we got to Los Angeles I just searched for design schools within the parameters of where we were going to live. Just 8 minutes’ drive away I found a design school called ArtCentre College of Design. I had no idea how famous that school was, I had no idea how many famous people, alumni, graduated from that school, but the deeper I dived into the research of the school, the more I loved it.

Here's a few people who graduated from there; Michael Bay; film director, Mike Shinoda; rapper-singer from Linkin Park, Franz von Holzhausen; vehicle designer for Tesla, Sydney Mead; the concept artist who designed Blade Runner, Chris Bengal, a vehicle designer from BMW, and there's so many more crazy, heavy-hitter designers who graduated from there. I'd never heard of this school before, and it's insane!

So I started to apply, and I got in with all the experience I had, and the program I chose was graphic design. The reason why I chose graphic design was because I felt like that was the most versatile. I could utilize my photography skills and my narrative skills in that program, but at the same time, I can learn new things, like UI UX design, layouts, and stuff like that.

So, I just started to do normal graphic design. I studied typography, layouts, narratives, sequences, how to print, how to make beautiful posters.

But, it was this poster (below), one of the professors told me, hey, Jeffrey, have you ever heard about motion design? And I asked back, what is motion design? I had no idea."

"And she told me, it's basically making graphic design move, and making animations, and sequences

You can tell a story with animations, it doesn't matter what the medium, 3D, 2D, hand-drawn, cell animation, and it instantly clicked with me, instantly, because I love to watch photography, so a lot of it is camera work, framing and compositions.

I loved filmmaking - sequencing, storytelling, and I love design, and I love problem solving for clients and for other people, and this is a combination of all, so I was in heaven. Immediately!"

Q) It sounds great. Did you have any problems?

“That was also around the time when COVID hit. So I couldn't go out, I couldn't take my camera out to take pictures, I couldn't go out to meet people. The entire school went online.

And, I was like, huh, I have this creative fire, and I have no output anymore. I couldn't take pictures anymore. And that's when I first discovered 3D design. One time I was just scrolling Instagram or YouTube, and some guy says, ‘you can learn Cinema 4D, and you can take pictures virtually, or make film virtually.’

I thought that 3D sounded interesting. I'd learned Rhino when I was in architecture school. How different would that be? And it turns out it's not that different at all."

Q) What was your first project?

"I started this project, called ‘Everyday Project’. I would post a little animation in 3D, every single day. And I continued for almost a year. I think I ended up with, 370-ish daily animation practices.

And that's when I really fell in love, and I felt limitlessness creativity, because for the first time, I didn’t need to go to physical locations anymore. I could just make the locations and stuff I want to take pictures or film with."

Q) What else did you do in 3D?

"I started to make title sequences for advertisements. I'm framing, rendering, taking pictures, colour correcting this virtual world. This is what I work with now. Before, it was a camera viewfinder, now it's 3D program and rendering engines.

Later on I started to make animations. For each animation, I would create story frames, storyboards, and, basically starting the idea from scratch. And I loved the process. It's really making your imagination come true and tell a little story within a minute or 30 seconds."

Q) Did you do an internship when you were at ArtCenter?

"Yes at Imaginary Forces, a motion design studio based in Santa Monica, they've been in the business for almost 30 years now.

They're famous for their title sequences including Seven, by David Fincher. This was the title sequence that made Imaginary Forces famous, and put them on the map.

They are also famous for Mission Impossible's, title sequences and perhaps the most famous one is the Stranger Things, title sequence. This one almost became, like, a pop culture phenomenon. You can see people printing this logo on t-shirts, and even the music was iconic.

The classic Mad Men title sequence, and Spider-Man No Way Home were designed by imaginary forces too. They have crazy talent, tons of amazing creative directors and artists who work there, and it was my dream to go there as an intern, just to see what's up, of this legendary studio."

Q) What did you work on during the internship?

"During the internship, I was tasked with the ‘Main on End’ title sequence for the end of the film ‘Percy Jackson, the Olympians’.

I was just thrown into this project, it was like ‘here you go, intern, here's the shot. Make it happen’. I was working on the ‘owl shot’. I had no idea how to do it, I spent 3 nights trying to make it work and it turned out beautiful.

"I was lucky enough that this project actually won the Children’s and Family Emmy for Outstanding Show Open at the 3rd Annual Children’s and Family Emmy Awards - almost like an Oscar for TV. See it by clicking  HERE

And a lot of artists and creative directors worked for their entire career, only to get nominated, but never won. And I was so, so lucky to be part of the winning team on the first intern project I've ever joined."

"I'm super grateful for IF and just trusting me and throwing me on that project. The hard work paid off and right after the internship and after I graduated from ArtCenter, one of the creative directors reached out to me and said, ‘hey, Jeff, you wanna come on board to join IF?’ I was like, ‘Of course, yeah, no question.’ So, I joined full-time."

Q) What have you worked on with Imaginary Forces?

“I've been working on a lot of, things. Little things, big things, tv series, commercials and animated logos. Some things haven't been launched yet so I can't share them all with you!

The Zillow project was insanely cool. The person and the cat were shot in real life. We rented out a Hollywood studio, and we had this huge mechanical crane. I then designed everything interior and exterior. So that's when the architecture experience actually helped a little bit.

And I animated all the transitions and from rooms to rooms, and compositing was done by compositors, and it was great working with a larger team, it's almost like a VFX workflow happening in motion design.

And worked on sports TV. Working with editors, and I designed the 3D of the little tennis ball rolling, suggesting frames for how the type will look. So, this project is more graphic design, or motion design, 3D animation and also typography skills come in. So now you can see motion design is really, like, a big container that really contains a lot of things. Anything that moves on screen could be called motion design. So there's really no limit on what you want to create with this medium."

Q) How do you stay original with the growth of AI?

"We see the potential of AI because it makes things faster, more efficient and cheaper. It’s also a great referencing tool to show the client. With a little AI, photoshop for touch-ups you can quickly deliver an idea to the client to test the water. The problem is, AI has no intentions, no desire to create. Humans create for the sake of creating.

I’ve seen artists create stuff with AI, but as they have no technical capabilities themselves, it can be hard for the studio to recreate that effect. Is AI really creating, or just dumping stuff on us? Only people can show intentions and why that matters. AI just needs to be used with integrity and care, not for creative decisions."

Q) How can you relate yourself now to your time at Concord?

"Concord was the cornerstone of my creative journey. Everything started here. Not just the ability to explore and create but also to be given trust by your peers. I was heavily involved in Photography Club, House Arts and creating short films. I showed up to and documented almost every event.

I really feel that Concord has that ability to nurture and allow yourself to explore. While you are at Concord really take advantage of your time because the 4 years I was there went really fast. Take baby steps and see for yourself, push yourself and experiment."

Q) Any last words?

"One thing I really felt deeply about is we don't create to arrive, but we create to keep becoming. And maybe there's more to see down the line, so if you want to reach out, follow me on Instagram, go see Imaginary Forces' website, and if you're interested in motion design, yeah, come and talk to me."