Zipeng Zhu

When did you fall in love with design and how did you get started?

I used to want to be a manga (japanese comic) artist when I was a kid till I realized I have no talent in drawing… But that left me a ton of Photoshop skills. So I started to make posters for my school clubs, newsletters, designing my own powerpoint presentation (haha). One of my high school teachers asked me if I would ever consider to study design in college… Then I got into a huge fight with my parents and begged them to let me go to an art school since I was determined to study biochemistry. August of 2009, I moved to New York City and started my time at School of Visual Arts.

What was your plan for graduating and what actually happened?

My plan for graduating was to get a job at Wolff Olins and do branding till I die. But 2 days before my graduation, a lady named Jessica Walsh (partner at Sagmeister & Walsh, I KNOW!) emailed me and asked if I’m interested in coming in for an interview. I graduated on a Thursday, I interviewed on a Friday and I started my job at Sagmeister & Walsh the Monday after. (I had 2 days vacation.)

What’s your take on internships? (do you take interns now?)

Big fan of internships. I learned everything from my internship at Pentagram with the legendary Paula Scher. I remember the first time I saw how a PRO works, the sweat on my back was… But that pushed me to work so much harder to catch up. One thing I loved about my time with Paula is that she never treated me like an intern, I had my own projects and the same timeline as the rest of the team. So I had to train myself to catch up. I’m currently looking for interns for my studio Dazzle as well. (and it’s paid!)

Any passion projects you would like to share?

I draw dicks a lot. I’m very passionate about them. Currently finishing up a project I’ve been working on for the past 2 years drawing superheroes’ penis. (SUPERCOCKS)