Background
Shinsegae Traditional Liquor Design Renewal is
a design talent donation project of Shinsegae department store to flourish the
traditional liquor market in Korea. Korean traditional liquor contains different
ingredients of various tastes and smells from various regions. However, its
identity was not as much recognized as wine or Japanese sake. The overall design
was renewed to maintain the tradition and features of liquor and to build up a
single representative identity.
Strategy
Korean traditional liquor can be classified into
three main categories: fruit-based liquor, rice wine and distilled liquor. A
design that unifies the three categories together as a single look and at the
same time distinguishes each of their endemic features was desperate. The design
concept based on the history of Korean traditional liquor was mainly focused on
taste, smell and the impression each color delivers. For the project, three main
design keywords were deducted. Consistency that fully represents Korean
traditional liquor, differentiation that distinguishes fruit-based liquor, rice
wine and distilled liquor based on its manufacturing procedures and flexibility
to reflect distinctive features the three, made of different ingredients from
various regions through unique processes, has.
Design
Three sets of icons were made for each category to
represent the used ingredients and unique manufacturing process that they went
through. These icons were arranged into peculiar patterns for each category. The
three sets were differentiated by its combination but unified by identically
using line drawing method. The will to preserve our tradition was conceptualized
through the shape of the bottles. Based on this background, the bottles were
formed of joined straight lines to visualize our progressive spirit.
Rice wine
Firstly, rice wine is the representative of
Korean traditional liquor. Its main ingredient, rice adds its unique refreshing
and mild taste to it. Curved and circular patterns were used to give an elegant
impression. The part where straight lines meet to form the bottle was smoothly
curved to represent conservation of tradition. Modern emotional aspect of
traditional liquor was reflected through minimally designed aluminum cap.
Fruit-based liquor
Fruit-based liquor is feminine and
sweet, and each of them has its own colors. It was designed to deliver a
decorative look and identically display the color of the icons to match the
color of each flavor. The smooth curve from the bottle neck to the body was
designed to visualize freshness of fruits.
Distilled liquor
Last, the most refined alcohol beverage,
distilled liquor is most heavy-bodied. It was identified as the most high-class
liquor type throughout the history as the manufacturing process required most
time among the rest. In order to deliver such features, symbolic circular
patterns in gold on black background were used to add luxury. The outer pattern
was illustrated to represent the producing process. The icon placed on the
center of the pattern was formed to symbolize ingredients and distinct
distillation procedures that different alcoholic drinks went through to produce
various flavors.
The bottles were shaped to give an overall condensed
impression to reflect high percentage of alcohol distilled liquor contains. Its
large width and short height in terms of dimension compared to other bottles,
reminds of masculinity and the thickness of the bottom part shows its
heaviness.
Brand Mark
‘Woorisulbang’ is a space for selling
traditional liquor of Korea in Shinsegae Department Store, Korea. Brand mark of
Woorisulbang holds liquors of three categories: fruit-based liquor, distilled
liquor and rice wine. It was inspired by the patterns on Korean traditional
doors. The doors symbolize communication between indoors and outdoors. To
Koreans, liquor represented food, culture and the means of communication more
than alcoholic beverage as itself. The feature of authentic communication
through shared glasses throughout Korean tradition was blended into the brand
mark.
Design: Plus X BX // Shinsaegae
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