1 Hyundai Department Store, LA BOUTIQUE D' HARRY

#EuropeanFlair #1000PyeongScale #FairyTaleStory

On the fifth floor of The Hyundai Seoul, a Christmas village sprawling over approximately 1,000 pyeong has been set up.
Named ‘Harry's Dream Shop,’ this place, evoking the atmosphere of European shop alleyways, is reportedly the most extensive indoor Christmas-themed space in Korea. It consists of 16 boutiques symbolizing the 16 branches of the Hyundai Department Store, each continuing a brand story. With over 6,000 lights, an 11-meter-tall tree, a post office, and Nutcracker figures, it's impossible not to capture this Christmas spirit in a photo.

2023 Hyundai Department Store, The Story of the Alley Shops

The old man, delighted by this year's Christmas tree, felt a pang of sadness at enjoying this beautiful sight alone.
Sensing the old man's deep longing for his family, Harry secretly starts crafting something every night.
On Christmas Day, Harry presents the old man with handmade golden macarons and mulled wine.
Touched by the gift, the old man meets various toys crafted by Harry in a dream alongside his dearly missed family.
Then, the old man descends to the village, creating a shop that can gift dreams to everyone.

Since 2021, Hyundai Department Store has implemented the 3S principles for its Christmas displays.

Style - A Unique Hyundai Experience Satisfying All Five Senses: Focused on elements like the Hopeful Tree, Happy House, and Holy Forest, the goal is to provide an experience that satisfies all five senses. This aims to communicate the Hyundai Department Store's proximity to customer happiness.

Story - Hyundai's Unique Fairy Tale Stories: In 2021, the theme was “The Story of the Red Berries” (a girl's journey to find red berries for the sick villagers, wishing for the end of COVID-19). In 2022, “The Grain Store Story” (a tale of reconciliation over misunderstandings and prejudices about a baby bear, Harry, hoping for the war's end). For 2023, “The Story of the Alley Shops” (a fairy tale about baby bear Harry helping an old man meet his longed-for family, a story of hope and dreams post-war). These are aimed to resonate more intimately with customers by incorporating global issues into Hyundai Department Store's mission.

Space - The Hyundai Sounds Forest, The Largest in Korea: In 2021, the motif of COVID-19 was used to symbolize isolation and separation with a forest of 150 trees. In 2022, the theme of war was depicted with houses and squares representing peace and harmony. In 2023, the design features red Art Nouveau buildings, embodying warmth and familiarity, reflecting the hearts of displaced people.

The Hyundai Department Store Design Lab kicks off its project every November, finalizing about three Christmas concepts from Europe by early December. In January, they begin spatializing these concepts, and by April, following executive reports, they spend three months on story and design before starting production in August. The Christmas decorations are then unveiled to customers in November.

Erecting barriers and restricting access in a thousand-pyeong space required immense courage. It wasn't easy to allocate a budget for creative ideas, persuade the management, and seek cooperation from related departments. This large-scale project was realized while enduring unpredictable safety issues and the pressures of a fluctuating schedule.

2 Shinsegae's Magical Winter Fantasy

#Splendor #MediaFacade #Fantasy

2023, Magical Winter Fantasy

Beginning with the dramatic opening of intense red curtains, Myeong-dong Street transforms into a stage, inviting customers into the splendid golden facade of Shinsegae's main building. Following a mystical deer inside, one discovers an emerald forest garden, arrives at a warm and exhilarating Christmas forest, passing through vibrant and splendid snowflakes ridden by a wooden soldier on a deer. A holiday train escapes between gift boxes filled with hope, soaring into a fantastic night sky adorned with the Milky Way. The bear toy in the gift box and cute ornaments take a thrilling swing ride and pass through the snow-covered night ice rink, arriving at the music hall. Following the beautiful piano melody, a gold tree fills the music hall, culminating the ‘Magical Winter Fantasy’ journey with glittering lights and grand fireworks.

Shinsegae has been decorating for Christmas since the 1970s, which has become an essential annual event from 2011. In particular, Shinsegae's main store is a leading year-end destination with the most extended history in Korea. Its goal is to intuitively convey Shinsegae's DNA, reveal its taste, and provide happy experiences to customers.

Creating a unique, mystical visual experience, Shinsegae's concept has consistently been about making viewers feel as if they are traveling to another world, momentarily forgetting reality. As the space in the video changes, the primary colors – red, gold, green, blue – dramatically shift, harmonizing with the facade's frame lighting. Additionally, composing classics elevates the grand holiday mood of the year-end.

After analyzing various global spaces and trends, major concepts will be established and finalized by February. Centering around the key visuals of the selected concepts, color mood boards are created, and corresponding Christmas stories are planned. Following storyboard completion, they delve into 3D rendering and animation production, ensuring harmony among story, visuals, colors, and music through numerous adjustments. The final version will be confirmed by late September, followed by facade installation work until November.

The most challenging aspect is deriving new concepts annually and materializing beautiful and mystical stories. Nights are also spent conducting multiple video tests to ensure no issues with LED broadcasting after video production.

3 Lotte Department Store, My Dearest Wish

#HumanisticSensibility #AuthorChungSerang

Under the theme “My Dearest Wish,” Lotte Department Store unfolded a story imbued with longing, heartfelt letters exchanged between loved ones. Grounded in humanistic sensibility, it brought to life a fairytale-like story that resonates across generations, encapsulated in a Christmas mood. Lotte Department Store concentrated on offline elements that evoke the end-of-year sentiment, bringing enjoyment and experience to the forefront. The narrative vividly and engagingly unfolds around the protagonist, Hae-ah, delivering heartfelt letters, encountering the mystical Letter House, and successfully conveying the precious letters despite challenges with the help of Tonttu fairies.

올This year, Lotte Department Store pondered deeply on crafting a story with authenticity and visually portraying emotional depth. In its quest to represent the messages of hope and imagination, it collaborated with author Chung Serang, who resonated particularly with the motif of ‘letters filled with earnest wishes.’ Based on a storyline crafted by Chung Serang, Lotte Department Store entrusted illustrations to Julia Sarda Portabella, an artist based in Barcelona, to create a fairy-tale palette. The animation was produced in partnership with COP Studio.

Lotte Department Store focuses on the department store as more than a space for mere consumption; it's a place that can inspire awe and excitement. The focus is creating an environment for emotional experiences, considering various experiential elements beyond traditional visual Christmas displays. Lotte Department Store bases its content planning on the global political climate to evoke emotional resonance.

For a time, there was much talk that offline channels would decline as online platforms experienced rapid growth. However, the pandemic highlighted the importance and value of direct experiences, empathy, and communication. This revelation underscored the importance of providing spaces for emotional experiences beyond the department store format, particularly making Christmas an even more significant theme for its annual events.

Since last December, I've traveled to New York, London, and Berlin, drawing new inspiration from Christmas atmospheres in these cities. Typically, our design's central theme and strategy are finalized by March.

Given the project's scale, meticulous attention is paid to every detail, even the finishing materials. Safety considerations during installation and the challenge of turning various elements into tangible products mean overseeing more than ten factories for quality control. Department store VMD doesn't end with offline staging; synchronizing design thinking across multiple areas like graphics, video, and event planning is no small feat. When realizing our imaginations, differences in perception can arise, and the final image may differ from what was envisioned. Despite collaborating with experts in various fields, the journey to the final product is always nerve-wracking.