Qianhui Yu
Or call me Chiya
ABOUT ME
Hi! I am an Animation Director and an Illustration artist living in London, U.K., born in Guilin, China.
I specialise in 2D frame-by-frame animation, crafting vibrant, imaginative worlds through expressive character design, rich colour palettes, and hand-painted textures.
My work often draws inspiration from nature, dreams, and surreal moments of daily life, resulting in whimsical visual narratives. I work across a range of outputs, from editorial to branding and music, and have collaborated with many global clients, including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, Penguin Random House, Faber Children, Adult Swim, Coldplay, Hyundai, Revolut, and more.
I just finished my animated short film 'Statue in the Garden', which was supported by the BFI Network and awarded funding from the National Lottery. Produced by Animate Project.

WHAT I DO
Animation Directing
Animation
Illustration
Workshop
Lecture
Public Talk
REPRESENTATION
POCKO in the US/EU/KR/JP, Advertising and Marketing jobs in the U.K.. Please contact info@pocko.com
Scale Model Studio for commercial animation project in the U.K..
Please contact info@scalemodelstudios.co.uk
CONTACT
To get in touch for projects or collaborations, send email to Qianhui.art@gmail.com
FOLLOW ME
QUALIFICATIONS
Royal College of Art (MA, Animation) 2020
China Academy of Art (BFA, New Media Art) 2017
SELECTED CLIENT
EDITORIAL: The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, WIRED, It's Nice That, Bon Appetit, Barron's, Berliner Zeitung, Republik Magazine, W
PUBLISHER: Penguin Random House, Faber Children, Little, Brown
BRAND: HYUNDAI, TIC TAC, Zimmermann, GCDS, Revolut, Huawei, Kiltane, Blue Q
COMPANY: GIPHY, Adult Swim, Warner Music Sweden, Universal Music Group, Girls In Film
MUSIC: ColdPlay, Khruangbin, Steve Aoki, Corinne Bailey Rae, Chinese American Bear, Drug Store Romeos, Birdlord

PUBLIC TALK
Public Talk at Cheltenham Illustration Awards, Uni of Gloucestershire, 2026
Seminar at London College Of Communication, UAL, 2026
Let's Talk Design #31, Gent, Belgium, 2025
Motion North, Manchester, 2025
BFI Short Film Club+Q&A, Flatpack Festival, 2025
Attendee Stage at PICTOPLASMA, Berlin, 2024
Screen Talk at London International Animation Festival 2023
Animators in Conversation: Fiction versus Reality
LECTURE
BA Animation Course at University of Gloucestershire, 2026
PRESS
London International Animation Festival
What to watch at the BFI Future Film Festival 2021 – the programmers’ picks
ARTIST RESIDENCY











