THISTLELONIAN

ARTIST ON THE RISE

KATIE ZHOU (CLASS OF 2019)

Katie Zhou, graduated in 2019 at McKinnon SC, and since graduating she has seen many successes as a practising Designer and Artist.  We reached out to her recently to talk about a design project she completed for Public Transport Victoria. 

Here’s what she had to say. 

 

How did PTV find out about you? 

Basically I worked with PTV through the Jacky Winter Group and Graffiti Group. It was Jacky Winter who came across my work, actually through Frankie magazine! Pretty much Frankie magazine has a yearly section called the Good Stuff awards, where you can enter your creative work for the chance to be featured in the magazine, as well as a prize. 

 

I was selected as a finalist, and though I didn't win I still got to have an image of my work featured in the magazine! It was a zine I had made as a uni project. Jacky Winter essentially saw my work in the magazine previously and kept my designs in mind. Such a random unexpected outcome, I had no idea that competition would lead to such a cool project.

 

Can you tell us about the P Tea Stop project? What is it about? 

PTV wanted to create a campaign to get more Gen Z students using public transport, as well as to get feedback from them on ways to improve their services. This also links to why they reached out to me because of my age demographic as a Gen Z designer.

 

Therefore their idea was to create a pop-up stall to appear in various university open days, titled the P Tea Stop. They would be giving out free cups of tea, so that students could ‘spill the tea’ about their thoughts on PTV. There was also the chance to win additional PTV merch like a beanie, notebook, totebag. They aimed to create a fun, appealing spotlight on PTV to give students a good impression on the public transport systems available.

 

What was this experience like? 

It was very surreal, organised and enjoyable! I remember I first met up with the agencies in person at their office and I was so nervous and had a bit of imposter system. I was also accidentally late to the meeting because of PTV delays which was ironic.

 

After the initial in person catch up, I communicated with the two agencies online. The Jacky Winter Group was in charge of all the organisation and technicalities, while Graffiti Group was more in charge of creative feedback. Having both parties involved made the experience very smooth, as I didn’t need to communicate with PTV themself during the whole process. We created a timeline of small deadlines for me to work towards, where I would send them each of my progress online for feedback. This made the workload super manageable. 

 

In terms of my personal experience creating the artwork, I’m someone that can’t work for hours at home on my screen, as I’ll inevitably lose focus and get distracted. So my little routine for this project consisted of riding my bike to my favourite Japanese cafe a few suburbs away from my house, working for 1-3 hours, while listening to the ambient sounds of the cafe and sipping a hojicha latte. This made the process really enjoyable, as I normally like to draw in cafes anyway so it didn’t feel like work. I’ve just finished my third coffee card at that cafe, definitely a regular there.

 

So you've been freelancing lately, correct? What else have you been up to? 

Actually, since graduating from a Bachelor of Communication Design last year at RMIT, I’ve taken a bit more of a pause on design work, as I felt I needed a mental refresh and break. In the meantime I’ve been sketching a lot in different places and resparking my love for creating art purely for fun. Instead of focusing on the end product, I’ve been enjoying the process itself. 

 

I recently created a 2024 calendar which I sold at various markets and online on my Etsy store, alongside other art prints. The theme was illustrations of animals doing everyday activities, as a reminder to find the joy and beauty within everyday simplicity. I love having my little side business where I can create whatever I like, however I like. It’s these kind of projects that I love doing the most.

 

Currently though, I am writing this from Japan, where I have just started volunteering in the countryside area of Niseko in the north. It’s been nice winding down to a slower pace of life, surrounded by so much nature. Though I’m still getting used to all the bugs here. I’m doing a mixture of design work and renovations for a small startup business who create sustainable wooden souvenir products.

 

What’s the company and what do they do? 

The company is called Kumagera, named after a rare type of woodpecker bird that can be found in Niseko. Their values are all about creativity, sustainability and design. Essentially they use locally sourced wood to create souvenir products like wooden pins, stickers, magnets and coasters. Everything is made in-house in Niseko, in their home!

 

You've celebrated a range of achievements post-McKinnon Secondary College. Can you talk us through some of your successes since graduating in 2019? 

Attending McKinnon Secondary College was the beginning of my journey into the design world, where my favourite subject was Viscom. Having such a wonderful group of teachers and students created such a wonderful environment that inspired me to pursue the graphic design world.

 

Some of my creative highlights since graduating have been my experience going to RMIT University and studying graphic design, which allowed me to do a semester exchange in the Netherlands, as well as a short term exchange in Vietnam. These times travelling have been the most memorable by far. 

 

I’ve been able to work at various design places like a social enterprise and an advertising agency, which opened my eyes to the things I enjoy and don’t enjoy in the design world. 

Katie Zhou workshop at McKinnon Secondary College (2021)
Katie Zhou workshop at McKinnon Secondary College (2021)

In terms of the freelancing realm, I did my first freelance project around the time I started university. From there I have been able to work on some really interesting projects. The coolest so far has been this PTV project.  Madison Square Garden entertainment also reached out to me to create a custom illustration for them to gift to Olivia Rodrigo (!!).

 

How can we find out more about you and the work you do? 

You can explore more of my work on my Instagram @katiezhoudesign or website www.katiezhoudesign.com 

 

Links to work:

We have been following Katie’s career since she graduated, and every now and then something incredible and inspiring pops up on her website and socials. We definitely recommend a follow! 

 

Peter Eglezos

Learning Area Manager - Visual Arts