We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Joy Zou a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Joy, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I’m a motion designer, and my journey started with studying 3D character animation in college. The focus there was mostly on character animation, but I found myself more drawn to the dynamic movement of objects and graphics motions. To explore this interest, I started teaching myself new software through YouTube and other online resources, focusing on creating specific results rather than trying to master every single feature.

Looking back, I think being idea-driven was really important. I found it more effective to tackle challenges as they came up rather than learning everything in a step-by-step way. This approach kept me motivated and focused on my creative goals.

Self-study played a big role in my growth because it let me shape my learning around what I was really interested in. Sometimes it’s easy to lose your creative spark when you’re always trying to keep up with new tech. So I always remind myself to ideas are what matters.

Joy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I studied 3D animation during my undergraduate studies and first joined commercial animation production during the summer vacation of my junior year. I worked on a 3D animation project for the Giant Panda Research Base, which was a great experience. After that, I collaborated with friends on various projects such as music videos and album covers for independent artists.

Our work covers everything from brainstorming to storytelling, including character design, modeling, texturing, animation, and final rendering. Since we are a small team, each of us has to wear many hats, which makes us more agile and able to quickly integrate client feedback to provide better results.

What sets us apart is this flexibility and our ability to adapt quickly to achieve the best results for our clients.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

As a digital media creator, I wish I had started using social media earlier to connect with others in my field. Whether it’s through cold emailing or reaching out on Instagram, building those connections early on can make a huge difference when you’re just starting out. The best thing about the Internet is how it can bring you closer to the people who inspire you. And people are always nice to give feedback and suggestions which is much more useful than just work by your own.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I aspire to become a foresight designer or creator who explores a range of new and open-ended forms of expression by focusing on specific places, identities, environments, and social issues. I am interesting in topics at the intersection of visual design, motion, techniques, and cognitive behavior influenced by sociality. I, also as an anthropological lover, learned about Bourdieu’s idea that our habits are “indoctrinated,” which means socialized. It seems important to me that consciously future-oriented visual design research should focus on changes in people’s behavior brought about by society, environment, technology, and media.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://joyzouportfolio.cargo.site/
• Instagram: joyyyxz
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joyzoumotiondesigner/