We recently connected with Bolin Zhou and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Bolin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

My creative journey started when I visited a friend’s house in high school. He showed me his amazing artwork, and it instantly sparked my own artistic passion. I felt inspired and decided to create a portfolio with my own drawings to apply to a four-year art college.

Once I got into the MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art), it opened up a world of possibilities in various art forms. I wasn’t limited to just traditional art; I could explore digital illustration and 3D art as well. During my second semester in college, I got drawn into the fascinating world of 2D and 3D animation. It was closely related to the TV commercial, film, and advertising industry, and I found myself falling in love with it.

This experience fueled my determination to pursue a creative and artistic career in this field professionally.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

how you got into your industry / business / discipline / craft etc, what type of products/services/creative works you provide?

I got my start in the industry by playing around with the available hardware and software. I still remember creating my very first 10-second Pepsi ad. I did everything from modeling and animating to rendering 3D Pepsi cans using 3ds Max. Then, I brought them into Apple Motion, where I combined them with 2D motion graphics and added sound effects during my 3D class. When I shared the final result as a MOV file, the people around me were blown away. They thought it looked like a real Pepsi commercial, which was a huge boost to my confidence.

This positive feedback motivated me to keep creating more mock-up ads. I continued working on class projects and personal pieces, gradually building up my 3D portfolio. Then, one summer, I landed my first internship at FURYNYC, a studio in NYC. I worked as a 3D generalist, taking on tasks like modeling, animation, rendering, camera tracking, and compositing. I even had the chance to work on real projects with big brands like USA Network, even though it was an unpaid internship at the time. The experience was incredibly valuable and helped me grow in the industry.

what problems you solve for your clients and/or what you think sets you apart from others.

I began as a 3D generalist intern, handling tasks like 3D modeling, rendering, animation, camera tracking, and compositing, particularly when working with live action footage. Later on, I delved into character animation, which involved storytelling, character design, rigging, and breathing life into these characters through animation.

Some clients required my skills in handling live-action footage with camera tracking and then proceeding with compositing. For other projects, clients provided a script and wanted me to develop the basic layout, storyboards, character design, and ultimately create an animated explanatory video based on the script. These projects could be quite time-consuming.

In most cases, my primary role involves animation, especially after the style frame layout has been approved, and clients entrust me to execute and bring their vision to life.

What are you most proud of and what are the main things you want potential clients/followers/fans to know about you/your brand/your work/ etc.

One project that’s incredibly close to my heart is “Daydream Butterfly.” This was my senior thesis during my time at RCAD (Ringling College of Art and Design) for motion design. I dedicated a whole semester to it, where I transformed an ancient 3000-year-old poem into a 30-second motion design animation. It’s a project that I’m incredibly proud of and has a special place in my career. To top it off, it even won The American Advertising Award, making it a truly magical and rewarding experience.

In my career, I’ve had the privilege to work with some fantastic brands like Netflix, AMC, USA Network, BET Network, CNN, Cartoon Network, and Spotify. For the USA Network, I had the opportunity to contribute to the website WhoIsMrRobot.com for all four seasons of the Emmy-winning series, Mr. Robot. This project’s success was incredible, earning it 1 Emmy Award, 3 Webby Awards, and 1 Shorty Award for Outstanding Interactive Extension Of A Linear Program in 2020. It was all due to an Alternate Reality Game built into the site for the show’s final season. It’s been quite a journey, and I’m excited about what lies ahead,

Both of those project open doors for me to new client and new project.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

yes the struggle for the non-creative to understand about my journey as a creative has to be why I still do what I do in the creative field, and how hard it is to make a living being a creator

Reflecting on my journey, it’s been quite a ride with its fair share of challenges. I had to face these challenges due to circumstances, and making a living as an artist was incredibly overwhelming, especially because of personal and financial factors.

After high school, I was excited to start my artistic journey at my first art school, MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art). Later on, I transferred to my second art school, RCAD (Ringling College of Art and Design). However, completing my education and obtaining official degrees proved to be a significant struggle. I faced failed classes, had to start over, and my graduation was delayed. During this time, I had moments of regret and even contemplated dropping out because it seemed too difficult to earn those degrees. Distractions, temptations, and obstacles constantly came my way.

To gain real-world working experience, I pursued summer internships in various studios and companies in NYC while I was still in college. I had a total of three summer internships, and after each summer internship, I returned to college. My main goal back then was to fast-track my way into my senior year so I could kickstart the pre-production of my senior project, a short film. With so many ideas swirling in my head, it was easy to get overwhelmed. I learned that focusing on one thing at a time was essential to achieving anything with real purpose. Otherwise, accomplishing anything felt incredibly challenging.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect for me has been the incredible experience I’ve gained from my work. Collaborating with big names like Netflix, AMC, USA Network, BET Network, CNN, Cartoon Network, and Spotify has been amazing. It’s really fulfilling to see my name in the credits at the end of commercials and short films made in partnership with these famous brands. This reminds me how important it is to consistently deliver top-notch work and how it boosts my portfolio and professional journey. It’s all about creating exceptional stuff in the creative world.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://vimeo.com/bananaorangeguy
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bolin-zhou-88274a13/

Image Credits
the personal photos are taking by Eddy Yang https://www.instagram.com/0xeddy/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D