Meet Zhihan Qian | Graphic Desiger

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

Hi Zhihan, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Things happened pretty naturally for me. Forgive me for not having many stories of rebelling against typical East Asian parents. They did have some expectations, but they didn’t interfere much when it came to picking my college major. I started studying design during my undergrad and soon realized the limitations of my environment. So, I smoothly (and luckily) made my way to Pratt Institute for further studies. During my six years of studying design, I was immersed in a magical world where chaos and order coexist. This completely changed how I see the world. After experiencing this unique perspective, it’s hard to imagine doing anything other than diving deeper into the creative industry.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My first creative project may have originated in decorating a classroom chalkboard in middle school. Every monthly update since then has made me incredibly happy. It was only natural that I chose design as my major in college, and I’ve been fortunate enough to draw strength from it.

I don’t think I’ve achieved much at this point in my life, the word carries too much weight. I’d rather describe it as: I’ve used my abilities to add some nice gadgets to the world.

Design, output, it’s not easy, especially if you are considered to have some talent. They always say that gold always shines, but I found the whole city golden when I studied in New York. I was fully aware that my little talent was only enough to give me a peek through the door into the halls of the masters. Adjusting my expectations and accepting that the growth of my abilities was slow was challenging and took a lot of time to do.

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?
I want to give a special shoutout to my undergrad mentor, Shan Hao. His help and encouragement were crucial in getting me to where I am today. With his broad vision and amazing skills, he showed me the beauty of the creative industry and gave me the freedom to create my own work.The other was Glen Cummings, my mentor during my master’s degree, whose erudition and breadth of knowledge I was overwhelmed by. No matter what the idea, it can be stretched to wider and deeper possibilities under his guidance!

Website: https://archivezq.cargo.site/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zia-qian-graphicdesigner