“Kime (Skin Texture)”

When the world began to confront the pandemic, we received an offer for a remote design project from overseas. Our client asked us to launch a new cosmetics retail IP from Shanghai, China to the world. The site was at the new mall ‘MOHO,’ a luxury mall focusing on high-end retail and lifestyle. Our mission was to propose an environment that would make the shopping experience more enjoyable, primarily for digitally focused millennials who are trend-sensitive. We had a unique opportunity to lead in designing the retail space, while closely working with the client to curate the operation and orchestrate the product presentation and logo design.

Kime, which translates to skin texture in Japanese, was the first thought which we envisioned for the space. Therefore, we decided to incorporate a “textured” worldview into the space. We sought ways to make cosmetic products stand out, while also giving the space kime: fine, even-textured skin. The idea was to create a textured surface layer with diagonal lines that intersect with horizontal line, and then create multiple layers. The line width is 10mm, and the material is a laser-cut steel plate. We thought that the surface layer and the layered depth would transform, depending on the angle, creating a permeable volume to create a “space where you can feel the kime.”

Previously, we had presented a work called “MEMENTO,” an object consisting of numbers in laser-cut steel into a cylindrical shape, at Milan Salone. The concept at that time is still relevant today. “If fine design is meant to be understood in a uniform way in use and purpose, perhaps we could create something that would evoke images and memories beyond that.” While everyday spatial design requires rationality, we believe that it’s also necessary to appeal to emotions separate from space and incorporate contradictory, irrational ideas. By showing what is visible on the surface and what is not, the space appeals to us as the ultimate entity.

Along with this space design, we began work on the graphic design, the core of the branding. Inspired by the “lines of skin texture”, the graphic designer proposed ideas based on compatibility with the spatial materials. The expression evolved into a logo using the lips, an abstract, more intuitively communicative facial element. Aiming for a logo that would enhance the space, it was placed as luminous signs on a permeable external screen.

The space was divided by pillars and walls, using the pillars as guides for the flow. The textures differ depending on the flow of natural and artificial light in the areas. The background cosmetics area is gray, so the colors of the products stand out. The aesthetic salon is a private enclosed salon finished in beige. All of these spatial elements are rounded. For example, the edges of the counter and the protruding corners of the stone are rounded to represent the fineness and smooth texture of the skin as a physical sensation.