A home renovation company made a movie

Recently, something very “design-world-like” happened outside the design community.

A Chinese animated film called *The Ox Is Coming* suddenly went viral.

It wasn’t because of its stunning visuals. On the contrary, its crude 3D modeling and stiff character animations quickly turned it into a sensation online.

But what’s even more dramatic is this:

The production company behind this film was formerly a home renovation firm.

A team that originally dealt with construction sites and blueprints has actually managed to bring an animated film to theaters.

If you’re an interior designer, this story is actually more worth discussing than the movie itself.

Because behind *The Cow Comes* lies a quality that’s becoming increasingly rare in our industry:

the courage to truly “bring to life” something that isn’t perfect.

An interior design firm, why would it go out and make a movie?

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When *The Ox Arrives* first hit theaters, almost no one took notice; its cumulative box office revenue for the first nine days was just over 7,000 yuan.

But because of the film’s extremely unique visual style, a large number of netizens began taking screenshots, creating memes, and even buying tickets specifically to go to the theater “to see just how outrageous it really is”—and that’s how it was thrust into the spotlight.

Setting aside whether it was well-made or not,

It made the leap from a construction site to the big screen, resulting in an 86-minute film that secured the “Dragon Label” and made it into theaters.

Let me ask you just one question: If it were you, would you dare?

In our industry, far too many people get stuck in the “I’m getting ready to do it” phase

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Most interior designers have probably gone through this phase:

They want to start their own independent studio but think, “I’ll wait until my client base is a little more stable”{ {h67}}. You want to build a personal social media brand, but think, “I’ll wait until I’ve shot some perfect on-site photos before posting”. They want to enter prestigious professional design awards but think, “I’ll wait until the soft furnishings and lighting in my next project are a bit more perfect before submitting.”

We always tell ourselves: “I’ll get started when I’m better prepared next time.”

As a result, a year, three years, five years go by.

That ambitious plan still lies dormant in a folder on the computer. Its names include: “Brand Proposal,” “Final Version,” and “Never to Be Revised.”

Meanwhile, others have already moved on from interior design to finish making a movie.

This is certainly not to say that “rough is right.” Once a work enters the public eye, it must be subjected to professional scrutiny.

But it raises a question worth reflecting on for all designers:

Are we becoming increasingly skilled at judging, yet increasingly afraid to create?

The Professional Pitfalls of Designers: Ever-Rising Aesthetic Standards, Ever-Slower Action

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Design is a profession where it’s all too easy to get trapped by “professionalism.”

Because we’ve seen too many great works.

We’ve seen Tadao Ando’s restraint and the sophistication of minimalism. Every day when we open social media, we’re bombarded with images of the world’s most exquisite residences and hotels, as well as design-driven lighting, shadows, and details.

Your aesthetic standards keep rising, turning into a kind of “aesthetic perfectionism.”

And so a very serious problem arises: You find it increasingly hard to tolerate the first draft of your own work.

The logo typography isn’t minimalist enough
The material combinations in the space aren’t sophisticated enough
The layout of the concept proposal PowerPoint lacks an international design sensibility
The color tones in the real-life photos aren’t sophisticated enough

So your choice is always: wait a little longer.

What truly prevents a designer from building a personal brand and taking that first step is often not a lack of ability. Rather, it’s that they know all too well what “good work” looks like, and as a result, they cannot bear to look at their own clumsy early work.

What’s even rarer than “perfection” is “completion”

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We don’t need to romanticize *The Cow Comes*; courage cannot replace professionalism—that’s the bottom line.

But you’ll discover a very interesting fact:

many animation projects with visuals a hundred times better than *Niu Lai* may never be completed.

Many spatial concepts far more stunning than its own ultimately exist only in beautifully designed PowerPoint presentations and renderings.

*Niu Lai* at least completed a full cycle:

It evolved from a vague idea in someone’s mind into a script, 3D modeling, regulatory approval, distribution, and finally a theatrical release—where it faced the market’s harshest judgment.

For any creator, “completion” itself is a massive watershed moment.

Interior Design Blinded by the “Final Result”

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The design industry inherently worships the “final result.”

What we see are always flawless spaces captured by photographers using tilt-shift lenses—luxury homes in magazines that are completely free of clutter.

We rarely see the initial mess and chaos of a raw, unfinished space, or the countless times the blueprints were scrapped and redrawn.

Over time, we develop the illusion that great things must be great from day one.

But that’s not actually the case.

A minimalist, high-end furniture brand might have produced a very ordinary first prototype.

A well-established design website might have started with just a few rudimentary pages.

What really matters is that the first version must exist first.

Because only once the first version is in place is there room for iteration and refinement in the second version.

“ ‘Build it first’ is by no means the same as ‘build it haphazardly’

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Today, we often say: Completion is more important than perfection.

But this doesn’t mean that completion is more important than “quality.”

The truly sound design process is:First, bring it to life → Receive feedback → Refine the details → Iterate again.

Rather than creating something first and then using “sentimentality” to cover up structural or functional flaws.

Young designers can certainly take on a low-budget project with some flaws at first. But after completing it, they must reflect: Where were the finishing touches lacking? Where were the circulation issues? How can you improve the quality next time?

Being professional doesn’t mean wowing everyone on your very first try.

Professionalism is the ability to continuously refine your work and advance toward a higher level of sophistication.

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The most sought-after skill for future designers is no longer just aesthetic sensibility

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When AI can generate high-end renderings with a single click and effortlessly create layouts brimming with design flair, what will truly set designers apart in the future?

Beyond aesthetic sensibility, it’s these three skills:

judgment{ {h239}}: Knowing what to pare down and what must be kept.
Execution skills: Taking a vague inspiration and navigating the countless challenges of construction and implementation to turn it into a real space.
Iterative Ability: Accepting the imperfections of the first draft and having the patience to refine it to perfection.

These three qualities are far more important than mastery of any rendering software.

First, bring your vision to life; then, refine it

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If even a renovation company dares to grit its teeth and finish filming a movie.

Why not leave the question to the designer:

Is there something you’ve been planning for many years?

Starting your own independent studio? Establishing a proprietary system of materials and construction standards? Or even just organizing and sharing that backlog of real-life project photos?

You’ve created countless folders of reference images for it, and you know exactly what sophisticated aesthetic it should ultimately embody.

The only problem is: it doesn’t exist yet.

*Niu Lai* is certainly not an exemplary piece of work.

But in an almost absurd way, it reminds us: