Art Direction Exercise: Analyzing Art Direction Pratices in Creative Company

22.09.2025 - 26.10.2025 （Week 1 - Week 6)
Lew Guo Ying / 0365721 / Bachelor of Design in Creative Media
Art Direction

Exercise: Analyzing Art Direction Pratices in Creative Company

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Index

1. Instructions

1.1 Submission

2. Reflections

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Instructions

MIB for Art Direction

Requirement:

This exercise  requires each group of four students to analyze how art direction operates within a real creative company. The main goal is to understand industry practices — from workflow and tools to the art director’s role — and present these findings both in written and visual form.

Each member is responsible for one section:

1. Business & Industry Overview – Company background, products, market, trends.

2. Production Structure & Pipeline – Department roles, workflow stages, software, and timeline.

3. How Art Direction Fits Within Production – Collaboration points, responsibilities, and visual influence.

4. Art Director Profile – Research on one real art director’s duties, skills, and insights.

Deliverables include:

• A group report (1,000–1,400 words) and a slide deck (6–8 slides)

• A 20-minute group presentation (each student presents their section)

• Weekly progress reports and an individual e-portfolio documenting research, reflections, and personal contributions.

Week 1

Art Direction Exercise

After the briefing by Mr. Kamal, our class formed groups for the Art Direction Exercise. My group has six members, and after discussion we decided to research and approach EDT (Experiential Design Team) for our company study. Each member conducted individual research to understand EDT’s background, services, and workflow. This helped us prepare for the task division and the development of interview questions for the upcoming company interview.

My Role — Section B: Production Structure & Pipeline

For this exercise, I am responsible for Section B: Production Structure & Pipeline.

My task is to analyze how workflow operates inside the selected company (EDT) — from the initial client brief to the final delivery stage. I will focus on:

• Describing the main departments and their responsibilities in a typical project.

• Outlining the step-by-step production pipeline, including key deliverables in each stage.

• Identifying the tools and software commonly used by the team.

• Estimating the timeline or milestones for each phase.

The final output will include a simple flowchart (showing the overall workflow) and a 200–300-word written explanation to summarize the process.

Fig2.1 EDT

EDT (Experiential Design Team) is a Malaysia-based creative technology studio that focuses on immersive and interactive experiences. The team combines creativity with extended reality (XR) technologies such as AR, VR, and MR to create digital–physical experiences for various brands and events.

Main Business Directions:

• Virtual Humans (“Hoomans”) – EDT designs and manages digital characters for brands and organisations, allowing them to appear in livestreams, events, and metaverse campaigns.
• Metaverse & “Phygital” Brand Activations – They build hybrid experiences that blend real-world installations with virtual or interactive components.
• Brand & Event Collaborations – The studio has worked with well-known brands such as VANS, AirAsia, and PETRONAS, delivering immersive brand storytelling through design and technology.

Fig2.2 EDT Linkedln

According to their LinkedIn page, EDT describes itself as “your personalised team that’s plugged into the future with XR at its core.”This suggests a flexible, cross-disciplinary team that collaborates across creative, technical, and production roles depending on the project. While the exact staff number isn’t listed, the company operates in a studio-based structure, likely working with freelancers and partner agencies for larger productions.

For my section (Production Structure & Pipeline), EDT is a suitable company because it integrates creative art direction with technical execution. Studying their workflow helps understand how teams collaborate from concept development to final delivery, especially in the context of immersive and interactive media.

Fig2.3 Interview Question for section student B

For this section, Melvin and I are responsible for exploring how projects at Bike Bear move from the initial client brief to the final delivery.

Our goal is to understand the team collaboration, production workflow, tools, and timeline — so that we can later visualize the process in a clear flowchart.

To achieve this, we first drafted a full set of questions covering four key areas:

1. Company & Team Structure – team organization and coordination between departments.

2. Project Workflow / Pipeline – the sequence of stages and deliverables from concept to delivery.

3. Tools, Software & Workflow Management – software ecosystem and file-management methods.

4. Timeline & Milestones – duration, overlapping stages, and production challenges.

Initially, our question list was quite detailed, resulting in too many items. After discussion, we decided to group them into four main sections, each with two core questions and a few follow-ups, to make the interview smoother and more focused.

This structure allows us to cover all required areas while keeping the conversation practical and concise for the company representative.

Fig 2.4 Short Brief

Before starting the interview, I prepared a short briefing to help the interviewee understand the focus and purpose of my section.

Since I am in charge of Production Structure & Pipeline, my goal is to find out how a project moves from the initial client brief to final delivery — including how different creative and technical teams collaborate, what tools and software are used, and how the production timeline is structured.

By giving this short explanation at the beginning, the interviewee can clearly understand what kind of information I need, making it easier for them to provide more focused and relevant answers. This also helps ensure the flowchart and written analysis I create later will accurately reflect the company’s real workflow.

Week 3 & 4

During Week 3 and 4, our group was still waiting for a reply from EDT after sending the interview request email. As the deadline was approaching and it was already close to Week 5, we started to feel quite anxious about the lack of response.

After a group discussion, we decided to reach out to more potential companies as backup options. Based on Winnie’s recommendation, we considered Bike Bear and Webby.

After doing some brief research, we found that Webby focuses mainly on web development, while Bike Bear has a stronger creative identity and fits better with our module’s art-direction focus.

While waiting for replies, we began conducting background research on both companies to prepare ourselves in case either responded positively.

Fig2.5 Webby and Bike bear

Webby's Strength:

• Webby Group is a fast-growing IT software, services & consultancy company specialising in custom web development, mobile apps, UI/UX design and advanced digital solutions.
• Their expertise lies in building technical infrastructures (e-commerce platforms, ERP/CRM systems, integrations) and they have a strong reputation in the digital transformation field.
• They appeal for businesses seeking robust technology implementation rather than purely creative branding or visual-art direction.

Bike Bear's Strength:

• Bike Bear markets itself as a “beary creative digital agency” offering full-service creative solutions: branding, web design, social media, campaign, video content. 
• They emphasise big ideas, bold creativity and strong visual storytelling, with a culture of daring and creativity (“Bigger … Bolder … Better”). 
• Their portfolio demonstrates award-winning web design (as highlighted in their web-design service page) and strong branding narratives.
• They present a more creative/visual-first agency model, which aligns well with art-direction focus.

Given our project’s focus on art direction, visual brand identity and interactive creative workflows, Bike Bear emerges as the stronger fit.

• Their core business aligns closely with our research topic: visual storytelling, branding, campaigns — rather than purely technical system builds.

• They provide a clearer lens through which we can study the role of art direction within a creative production pipeline (which is our Section B’s goal).

• Their agency size and creative orientation are likely more accessible for interview and insight-gathering relative to a large technical studio.

Final Interview Question

After finally receiving a reply from Bike Bear, our group decided to proceed with them as the company for our Art Direction Exercise.

Since our original interview questions were designed for EDT, which focuses more on XR / AR / immersive technology, we needed to revise and adapt the questions to better fit Bike Bear’s creative agency profile.

For my section (Production Structure & Pipeline), I adjusted the wording from technology-heavy terms such as “interactive installations” or “metaverse production” to more relevant aspects like web design, branding, and digital campaign workflow.

This ensured that my questions aligned with Bike Bear’s expertise in creative branding and visual storytelling, while still addressing the same structure of departments, workflow, tools, and timelines.

Through this revision, I gained a clearer understanding of how to tailor research methods based on the company’s specialization, ensuring that our upcoming interview would produce more accurate and meaningful insights.

Week 5

Fig2.6 Interview with bike bear Mr Ariel

In Week 5, our group successfully arranged an online interview with Mr. Ariel from Bike Bear. All six members gathered in the library discussion room and conducted the session through Google Meet.

The interview went smoothly and was very insightful — Mr. Ariel answered all our prepared questions in detail, giving us a deeper understanding of Bike Bear’s internal workflow, creative culture, and project management process.

Through this discussion, we also learned more about the current creative industry landscape and how agencies like Bike Bear operate between branding, design, and client communication. It provided valuable perspective on future career expectations and the realities of working in a creative agency environment.

Our next step is to analyze the interview findings and translate them into clear documentation and visuals for the later stages of the exercise, especially the workflow flowchart and written section analysis.

Fig2.7 Answer for section 2

Fig2.8 Slide

We organized and refined all of our interview questions and responses from the Bike Bear session to prepare for our summary writing and slide presentation.

For Section 2: Production Structure & Pipeline, Melvin and I divided our responsibilities — he focused on writing the report content, while I was in charge of designing and structuring the slides for our group presentation.

The most important parts for my section were understanding Bike Bear’s team structure, the step-by-step production pipeline, and the key deliverables at each stage.

Meanwhile, details such as the tools, software, and project milestones were presented mainly in written form, since the slides focused on visualizing the main workflow and collaboration process for clarity during the presentation.

Through this process, I learned how to extract and organize complex interview data into clear, presentable information — a valuable skill for both documentation and creative communication.

Submission

Art Direction Exercise Report-

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1S1-hwPitqcV-D577OtroP0ebWJ5yRf305Do0MSryJGY/edit?usp=sharing

Art Direction Exercise Weekly Project Management Report -https://docs.google.com/document/d/19HuneRF4urupWV4JjvTfnDJCc-IgaSAEGqNCTxqPJNM/edit?usp=sharing

Presentation Slide

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Reflections

Skills Gained

Throughout this Art Direction Exercise, I developed several important professional and interpersonal skills:

1. Research Ability – I learned how to conduct targeted research to understand a company’s background, strengths, and suitability for our project. By exploring official websites and LinkedIn profiles, I became more confident in identifying a company’s specialization and evaluating why it fits our study focus.

2. Teamwork and Communication – Working in a six-member group required effective communication and coordination. We had to discuss ideas, divide tasks clearly, maintain progress, and reach consensus under tight schedules. This experience improved my ability to collaborate professionally and manage group dynamics.

3. Interview Preparation and Questioning Skills – I gained experience in crafting structured and relevant interview questions based on our research goals. I also learned how to ask follow-up questions politely and clearly express our intentions to obtain accurate information during the interview.

4. Summarization, Slide Design, and Presentation Skills – After the interview, I learned to analyze and condense a large amount of data into clear key points for writing and slides. Designing slides required balancing clarity, visual appeal, and precision, while presenting helped me build confidence and public speaking courage.

Challenges Faced

1. Time Management – It was challenging to balance this project with assignments from other modules. Scheduling the interview and waiting for company responses also caused delays, as we could not proceed without confirmation, yet it would have been impolite to keep pushing for replies.

2. Language and Communication Barriers – During the interview, my limited English fluency made it difficult to immediately grasp key points or respond naturally. This sometimes disrupted the flow of conversation and affected professionalism. However, this also motivated me to improve my listening and speaking skills for future interviews.