TINA ZHOU
Interviewed by Cristeen, Hashika & Nicole
May 30, 2020
So it’s basically one of those very cliche stories where it’s like “oh I’ve loved arts since I was a kid”, but it’s true unfortunately.
I’ve loved drawing and anything artsy since primary school. During high school I decided I wanted to pursue arts and design in college. In high school I was very into doing realism drawings. Hyper realistic paintings, I love those. After coming to NYU, there was definitely a turning point in my artistic career because, in a sense, that was when I realized I can use art and design as a power to put your voice out there and try to influence other people.
In college, I became very politically active. Even though I’m not American, I’m very nosey. I think art and design give me a way to make commentary about current affairs that are going on, not just in the US but also around the world. That’s what I’ve been really into doing. After graduation now, I think I’m going to mainly focus on design because I majored in studio arts. The art classes at NYU really helped me develop my design practice, not just about making things look pretty but also using your voice to say something and making a difference in the world which is why I especially want to become someone that can use graphic design as a tool to empower.
Nicole: So, when did you start graphic designing? What did your first projects look like? What have you learned as you have been going through the process of getting where you are?
Tina: I guess in middle school we had a school magazine and that was when I first started design stuff. I loved laying out words and pictures. I didn’t give it really much thought until I came to college and took a design class. That was when I first started feeling like this was a really good place for me to start. On a more realistic level, because I am a foreigner, I can’t really find a good job as a full time arts major to get a visa to stay. So at the time, design could give me a way to get a job as a graphic designer. This is when I started interning as a graphic designer and getting involved at NYU’s CAB for graphic design. That’s when I started developing my design schools.
Nicole: What are some other projects you’ve worked on? I particularly enjoyed your video game design one.
Tina: Some of my most recent projects I’ve really enjoyed. One of the projects for my design class final - I basically created a webpage on anti-black racism within the Asian community. I really liked it because I hadn’t done a web project in a while and I learned a lot of new stuff. I got to experiment with a lot of cool effects on the web page. I did a lot of research for it and it was something I wanted to talk about. I was pretty happy with how it came out. I also really liked the Senior Week designs which were subway rat themed. It was fun to work on that because they were like, do whatever!
Nicole: When you’re given a project, are you given a brief? Is it a free-for-all? Where does your inspiration come in when creating graphics for each of the projects you’re working on?
Tina: I think for NYU, most of the projects have been very free creative-wise. For the graphics I worked on for CAB for example, most of the project lets you do whatever you want because there are no branding guidelines. I enjoyed that creative freedom but obviously with the company I’m working for now, there are more design guidelines, a font and everything has to be on brand.
I think currently there are so many design trends. Last year, everything was pastel colors. This year, it’s completely different. In a way, it’s very easy to fall into the trap of thinking “oh, everyone’s doing this.
Hashika: I know you’ve lived in a couple of different places like New Zealand, China and England. I was wondering if living in different places has affected your design style? What’s your take?
Tina: Definitely. I’m Chinese and I lived in China for eight years. So luckily I’ve been able to delve into Chinese culture. That has definitely had an impact on my design. A project I’ve worked on quite recently was a Chinese American vote campaign. Then I’m able to delve into issues that affect whether it's the Chinese American community or the Chinese diaspora in general. I think it’s been really interesting experimenting with designing in Chinese and seeing the differences between that and designing in English. It has also impacted the way I see different issues. I didn’t put this on my website but I made a zine about the Hong Kong protests. It was from a different perspective, coming from me who lived in mainland China and my parents are Chinese. I also have a lot of friends and relatives who live in Hong Kong. It gives me the unique perspective of being both inside and outside of the situation and I’m really lucky that it gives me a cool perspective of telling stories that haven’t really been heard in mainstream media. It’s also just beautiful knowing another language and living in different cultures.
Nicole: You said that it’s been interesting how learning to design in different languages have given you different insights. What advice would you give to people who are looking to delve into graphic design who might becoming with a worldly perspective like you? What are some things that you wished you knew when you were getting into that world?
Tina: I’d say a big one would be to strive to be different. I think currently there are so many design trends. Last year, everything was pastel colors. This year, it’s completely different. In a way, it’s very easy to fall into the trap of thinking “oh, everyone’s doing this. I’m going to do this too because it looks pretty.” And yeah, it looks good. But at the same time, it’s good to find a way to develop your own design style. While you aren’t oblivious to design trends that are going on but first develop your own style and then incorporate whatever trends are going on. So then you’ll still have a unique but relevant design and I think that really stands out. That’s important.
Cristeen: That’s very insightful. I think a lot of your projects are about things that people don’t really know about. With your Gentrification Food Truck, what is the story behind that?
Tina: I think what inspired it was when the whole Instagram food trend came about. I, like a lot of people, have a love/hate relationship with it. A part of me is like, this would look so cute, I have to get it and then another part of me is like I hate these trends, it’s so annoying. You see these, with Chinese food particularly, selling these dishes for $20 while restaurants in Chinatown are selling the exact same dish for way cheaper and they’re struggling.
I think I was struggling with the idea of our emphasis on aesthetics because everything is for Instagram. So a lot of times, we value how something looks over its actual quality. I was thinking about how that has had an impact on ethnic foods specifically. So that was where the idea came from. It also relates to how we would live with that and how that would impact food culture as a whole moving forward? Obviously Instagram isn’t going anywhere anytime soon and it’s not inherently bad that you want food that looks good. As citizens do we have a responsibility to support the community that we care about? Now, we’re moving towards this other era of Instagram where authenticity is more valuable now. You see people moving away from perfect posts. It’s more trendy to post yourself wearing a hoodie for example or a random picture of fruit with no caption. I think that’s very interesting also and makes me wonder how that mindset would bleed out of Instagram and affect our relationship with food in general. I’m excited to see what the future of food will be.
Cristeen: I know you use Procreate on your iPad and Adobe Photoshop. How do you know which program or software to use for each project?
Tina: I say for the most part, if it’s something that has to be pretty symmetrical like an icon, I use Illustrator. The good thing about Illustrator is that it’s vector-based which means that you could magnify it infinitely and it’ll continue to look very clear which is also why it’s good for icons. Or if I want to draw words that I know are going to need high resolution, Illustrator is also good for that. Photoshop used to be my favorite but now it’s my side piece because I don’t really use it anymore besides to edit photos obviously. I don’t really like it because it’s hard for me to organize everything and working with texts and their placements, it’s hard. For Procreate, I use that to draw people or if it’s a whole image I’m putting together.
Cristeen: When you’re working on a project and you’re trying to bring something to life, what are the most challenging aspects of that?
Tina: I think when brainstorming for projects, I was always start off with loads of research. I look at my Pinterest and blogs. I loved Pinterest. I see what inspirations I can come up with and then go on Illustrator and come up with several designs. Sometimes what happens is I come across something that is so good that I want to copy it. But obviously I can’t do that and I hate myself for not coming up with it myself. That’s the most agonizing part but obviously you get over it. This sounds really weird, but when I’m testing out fonts and color palettes, I know when I see the one. Something just clicks in my head and I know it. That’s always the best part.
