Garson Yu graduated from Yale graphic design in 1987. He loves typography and began a career in New York, working for R/Greenberg Associates where he learned about motion graphics and title design. He subsequently moved to Los Angeles and helped set up RGA/LA which later became Imaginary Forces. As he continued to work on films and meet with filmmakers, yU+co became the inevitable progression, starting in 1998. The company first focussed on feature film title design and subsequently grew to do motion graphics design for network branding, show opens and promos.





TAXI >>Hello Garson. Since yU+co’s inception, the company has had many notable collaborations with the likes of Steven Spielberg, Ang Lee, John Woo, Sydney Pollack, and Ridley Scott, amongst many others. Has there been anyone who has consistently inspired you, and if so, why?

Garson Yu>>Every director I’ve worked with has inspired me in some way, but the director that really stands out in my mind is Ang Lee. He always advises me not to think big. Think small he will say. In my opinion, Ang has the power of magnifying a small story into something powerful. I learned to understand how important it is to start my thinking from a core essence. Ang is a very humble man and inspiring teacher. For him to understand the creative choices I’ve made, he begins by asking a lot of questions, by asking why you made that choice, and that allows for a stimulating dialogue to begin about the creative process.


TAXI >>yU+co has expanded over the years and now has offices and labs in Hong Kong and China. What are some of the biggest challenges that you faced while establishing yourself within the developing Asian market, and what have been some of the most unexpected yields along the way?

Garson Yu>>The biggest challenge has been finding design talent that understands our design culture and mentality. You see, there’s a different cultural aesthetic and design sensibility when you’re trained in an Asian country, versus being trained with a Western design sensibility. We wanted to find a group of people that have a strong passion for creating good design and could incorporate both worlds. When we opened the Hong Kong office, the intention was to open a division that not only focused on design but also technology so we could explore interactive design, an area that has been more fully developed in China. So, we combined their know-how of the technology with the brand of design we’ve become known for in the U.S., which is grounded in entertainment and storytelling. The most unexpected reward has been how receptive the Asian market has been to our interactive division and how quickly yU+co[lab] has taken off in the interactive and experiential arena.


TAXI >>From feature film title design, the company has branched out into motion graphics design, re-branding and also technology-based experiential interactive projects. How has experience and expertise in one aspect of your portfolio helped or hindered your development in another aspect?

Garson Yu>>We have an advantage in that we started out as a title design company, so we were able to differentiate ourselves from other motion graphics design companies. The film title design work has given us tremendous exposure because our work is shown in theatres all around the world. That has helped attract clients to us for doing work on television commercials, TV show opens and network packages. Because we know how to create a cinematic look and tell a story, it’s been easier to leverage our film work and cross over to other platforms like television. If we had started in television, I think it would have been much harder to cross over in the other direction. At our Hollywood office now, we’ve also expanded our visual effects division with work on some high profile feature film, like the futuristic thriller “Game”. We’ve been able to carve out a special niche in the visual effects world because we’re doing story-driven motion graphics applied as visual effects. By that I mean, we’re creating an environment, a brand, a theme, and a visual look where none existed before, no green-screen whatsoever. So, our work enhances the storytelling by creating environments that the characters inhabit and interact with.


TAXI >>Your company does both title sequences and main-on-end sequences. What are some of the unique challenges of each, and do you feel they can complement or play off each other, when seen together with the movie as a whole?

Garson Yu>>For main-on-end titles, we’re designing for an audience to stay in their seats and extend their experience of the movie, so that’s the challenge. Unlike opening titles, we’re not setting up the tone for the audience. For main-on-ends, it’s really all about the titles because you need to engage the audience to sit there and watch. For that reason, the transitions and pacing play a very important role. It’s less about the narrative, because the movie is over. We don’t need any prologue or back story. In that sense, there’s more creative freedom in doing main-on-end titles because they need to be entertaining. On the other hand, designing titles for the beginning of the movie is a really interesting challenge. You need to set up the tone of the film with opening titles, so you need a much clearer approach to come up with a clever and appropriate solution. You also need to get the audience into the story quickly, so it limits how much we can put in the opening sequence. So you see, they both have their unique challenges because they’re trying to accomplish different things.


TAXI >>How has the burgeoning trend of viral campagns redefined the digital landscape in the past ten years, and how do you see this panning out in the near future?

Garson Yu>>Viral campaigns that are computer-driven don’t need high production values. They tend to be more low tech and concept-based than production-based. It’s more about an idea or visual excitement to draw the viewer’s attention. It’s all about instant gratification and as a result, it has a short life cycle and short attention span.


TAXI >>A good title sequence can both set the tone for the movie to come, and also be a distillation of its essence. Can you please describe how the conceptualization process works in your company when it comes to taking on new projects?

Garson Yu>>For title design, it starts with research and understanding the materials, whether its watching the film or becoming familiar with the graphic novel that inspired the film. Then you can begin to define the design objective and condense the entire story into a metaphor. Besides setting the tone for the movie, you also need to come up with creative solutions that address the concerns and issues of the studio and filmmakers. It’s also important to engage the audience, so it’s great when you can add an element of surprise at the end of a sequence when you tie together all the elements and reinforce the main idea.


TAXI >>Having covered such a rich and diverse portfolio that is renowned in the industry, is there a particular medium that you wish to work in but have not had the chance to?

Garson Yu>>I would have to say a medium that engages all your senses, from sound and sight to touch, taste and smell. yuco[lab] in Hong Kong has made terrific headway in the world of experiential and immersive environments. For us here at yU+co. Hollywood, it’s been an exciting learning process to create content with different scenarios, giving the participant choices for different endings and beginnings, or access to different experiences and information in different spatial settings. It’s different from creating content over a linear passage of time when you’re part of a captive audience watching a movie in a dark theatre for a few hours. I’m also very interested in artificial intelligence and how that will impact the world of design and information.


TAXI >>Having 35 jurors from around the country each year provide feedback for your competitions and industry trends, are there any difficulties in trying to obtain a consolidated viewpoint, and how do you deal with this?

Garson Yu>>Broad consensus is rare. That independence of thought is what makes this field so fascinating. Consensus in our competitions happens on about 2–3% of our entries. That’s what we publish.


TAXI >>What is the WORD, which you think would reside and reverberate in the design world for the next 10 years?

Garson Yu>>ORGANIC. It’s all about letting the message dictate the medium and letting the concept inform the design so that it unfolds in a seamless way.



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