Hallyu
K-pop’s success can be attributed to its strategic use of the internet to globalize itself. This project embarks with an investigation into how K-pop leverages digital platforms to amass cultural influence. Building on this analysis, various digital mediums are employed to narrate the story of Kimchimama, a Korean restaurant in Barcelona. Through an album box containing journals, digital interactions, and recipes, the project embodies the essence of Kimchimama’s vision and cultural significance, aiming to add value and strengthen its customer relationships.
Role: Creative Direction, Art Direction, Brand Value, Storytelling & Narratives
*Hallyu: increase in popularity of korean pop culture*
Tutored by Domestic Data Streamers, In collaboration with Kimchimama, Alex Linares
Tutored by Domestic Data Streamers, In collaboration with Kimchimama, Alex Linares
The rise in the popularity of Korean culture is a phenomenon that is felt firsthand. An investigation is started by studying how Korea transformed from a relatively obscure nation to one of the most visited countries in Asia. Specifically, it analyses how Korea has exercised cultural technology via the internet to achieve significant geopolitical (soft) power.
This project analyzes and employs the strategies K-pop uses to globalize itself to tell the story of Kimchimama, where the owners share their love for Korean gastronomic culture. It stands at a crossroads between contrasts: the West and the East, the global hype of K-pop and the local reality of the restaurant, the superficial and the intimate, the trendy and the traditional, and what is consumed through the internet versus what is consumed physically. The project’s goal is to support the owner's vision of building a stronger cultural bridge between Korea and Spain with aims to build stronger connections to their customers.
Research & Investigation
A global-local-global approach emerged as a significant finding in K-pop’s communication strategy. From this insight, the initial stages of the investigation aimed to conduct a local study on the perception of Korean food and culture. Surveys and interviews were conducted with Kimchimama’s local clients.
Survey conduction based on Kimchimama’s clients
“What is Kimchi?”
Formalisation
The “K-pop album box” contains Kimchimama’s story, with posters and recipe cards mimicking how K-pop idols communicate their album releases. This project draws parallels to K-pop, reusing its communication style to convey Kimchimama’s vision and mission.
Recipes at the end of each chapter
Interactive elements at the end of each chapter
Design inspired by Lot2046
Digital Interactions
Inspired by Kpop photo cards
Design
Render
Production
Artwork Posters
An experimental piece weaving Menu of Quatre Gats by Pablo Picasso and Lunch by Kim Hong Do. The partial intersections between the two paintings are intentionally highlighted by removing segments revealing similarities and contrasts within their gastronomic cultures. The paintings are situated in different eras, each showing their unique ways of gathering and eating. However the use of colour, the expressiveness in the brush strokes and composition is intriguingly similar almost like a mirror. Above all, both artists illustrate food as an element of social gathering, union and of communication.
Different, yet so familiar, the piece literally weaves the two paintings from Catalan and Korean artists with an intention to visualise the imaginative possibilities of further bridging the cultures and generations together.
Weaving Tal Chum, traditional korean group dance and La Sardana, traditional catalan group dance.