Meet Rou Jiao | Designer, gamer & swimmer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rou Jiao and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rou, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I believe I have continued to challenge myself with each project I receive. It was difficult for a designer to constantly experiment with new designs, but it accelerated my learning. Obviously, it is essential that a solid foundation in design and drawing allowed me to experiment with design variations. I am currently venturing out of my comfort zone and into the world of animation. I’m still learning and I’m looking forward to releasing some narrative pieces once I’m more proficient and at ease with animation.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
The part that most excited me was the creative process. I don’t really care about the outcome as it’s already been produced.

After establishing a list of broad requirements from clients or myself, I always begin a project with extensive research. My inspiration comes from the internet and literature, in contrast to other artists and designers who are heavily influenced by their surroundings.

During my research, I develop imprecise notions about my needs. It is really sensitive that I have a strong sense of what I need despite not knowing how it will appear aesthetically. Even if I do not have a clear understanding of the exact steps required to attain this objective, I am certain that I will have a stunningly gorgeous design for this project. When I progressively fit those pieces together and transform into exactly what I believe I should be, I experience elation. And fortunately, I made it every time for graphic design tasks, as well as a few product design assignments. Everything was going OK until I encountered motion graphics and animation.

Graphic design is collage, and the creative process allows for improvisation. Importantly, I continue to observe magnificent structures and works of art that I encounter unknowingly. I assimilated all of them like a ravenous beast. Consequently, I always have an abundance of bullets to fire during my design process. During my early educational development, I was unaware of the presence of motion and animation.

Unlike graphic design, where I can improvise, motion/animation production requires a detailed plan because the preproduction stage is so lengthy and crucial, beginning with the writing of a story, followed by storyboarding, animatic, illustration design, and finally the production stage, where you will encounter countless technical issues.

I am able to improvise some little animations, but it will not work for larger projects. First, it is difficult to properly assimilate 12 animation principles in a short period of time, and this is the key ingredient of good motion/animation. In addition, learning 2D and 3D software is a lengthy and challenging process for me in order to freely express my ideas. I am a professional designer but not a particularly skilled illustrator. During the storyboarding phase, I continue to find it difficult to convert lines of text into wonderfully rendered scenarios. I am aware that I require more patience and time, as well as a long period of humbling reflection and continued study. I have trust that I can master motion skills in the future, despite the fact that studying through intensive courses has become commonplace.

I enjoy motion because it shares a characteristic with music, which is a significant component of motion graphics. The rhythms, pauses, beats, and melody can be instantly transformed into screen-based movement. When directing such motions, I feel like a conductor. It was a truly joyful moment when I discovered the ideal intersection of music and visuals. The process of creating these motions alone is fascinating.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

I was going to say Newport in Jersey City till I saw that the tour should last a week. I’m not a big lover of Manhattan since every time I visit, the city seems to drain all my energy. Newport, though, has a long seaside to walk along with distant views of the New York City skyline. I adore walking and sitting there while seeing the sunset and the city’s subsequent illumination. The nights in Manhattan appear unreal.

I suppose I would like to spend a week with my best friends in Yellowstone national park or on a farm similar to the Yellowstone tv show. It’s amusing that I just learned they share the same name. The majority of my friends and I were born and raised in large cities and have lived our entire lives there. I believe that our civilization has placed too much emphasis on the physical world, as a result of which we have neglected to look within. We completely forgot how to console ourselves. I lack the courage to abandon what I currently own and live in the wilderness. I wish that were so.

When I was watching Yellowstone, I was really drawn to the cowboy lifestyle. My mother was an athlete in the modern pentathlon, yet she never taught me how to ride a horse. I simply desire to spend time with all of these ranch animals, smelling grasses and cow manure while drinking beers. Not all of my loved ones prefer this style of life, but I suppose I’ll convince them to try it out.

Alternatively, we will spend one week hiking in Yellowstone National Park. No cell phones or cameras are allowed. Just wondering, seeing, smelling, tasting, listening, and feeling. I want to spend a night in the wilderness with my closest friends, drinking around a bonfire and discussing our love stories and former lives. I believe in reincarnation, and I am fairly certain that these souls have spent hundreds of years loving and hating each other. I find it quite beautiful that, regardless of who we are in this life, we all come together to transcend our human identity and reconsider our existence over all space and time.

Or, we may simply spend the evening reminiscing about gossip and stupid things we did as children. Who can say?

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
It was interesting because my major in China during my first year was public management. I didn’t know what I wanted in my 18th year until I purchased a LEGO set. It was a unique set created for architects as a source of inspiration. When I was playing it, I understood I wanted to be a creator, and luckily, I had the opportunity to visit the United States as an exchange student during my first year. I have informed my parents that I intend to transfer to an American institution and major in Graphic Design. I suppose every art student, or at least the majority of us, had difficulty convincing our parents that being an artist is a lucrative profession. In the end, they agree to sponsor me to become a designer if I am able to successfully receive an art school acceptance letter. First credit goes to LEGO Architecture Studio and my parents for their assistance. Art school is actually quite pricey.

The second credit goes to Harold InDelicato, my very first art professor in the United States. I told Harold InDelicato that I needed his assistance in compiling a portfolio in order to enter an art school as soon as I arrived at my exchange institution. He examined some of my sketches and decided to assist me with the project. Harold is the most motivating instructor I have ever encountered. He may have recognized my potential, but I do not believe I can succeed without him. I recalled that he placed a cloth on top of a chair for my first charcoal still life drawing. Although I was not registered in the class, he created an area for me to draw. I’ve never drawn fabric before since it seems difficult. But Harold advised me to begin drawing without overthinking. Throughout the entire process, he kept praising me in front of the entire class, and that was just my first sketch. Those eloquent comments I received from him in those few hours surpassed all the kind things I’ve ever heard in my life. I drew clothing, an ancient printing machine, a naked female model, fruits, vegetation, and a skeleton in one semester. It was the autumn of 2015, and I spent approximately eight hours every day drawing in the studio. Harold told me, after studying a drawing of a skeleton, that I could get into any art school in the United States with such a drawing. False, as I was not admitted to RISD, and I later discovered that the school does not suit me. I suppose everything is already in the finest possible order, so just have faith in that. Like Harold, the LEGO set, and my opportunity to exchange in the United States, everything has been carefully and secretly arranged for me. If we desire something strongly enough, we will eventually achieve it. I believe that this is how the law of attraction works for me.

Website: https://www.estherjiao.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jr_esther/