PK MARKET | Hanam, South Korea

Emart's premier Western-style grocery store PK Market opened in 2016. Their seafood venue needed to convey a dedication to their high-quality fresh product. This attention-grabbing design lures new customers towards the center of the store, introducing us to prepared seafood, as well as the copious fresh fish tanks across the aisle. Visible from the entrance, the 48” diameter fish head and neon body greet all newcomers with a bold declaration of the Fresh Catch. Client: Emart

Design firm: Thread Collaborative

THE PROCESS

The original design was based on the idea of a dimensional fish leaping from the eyebrow soffit. Due to ceiling height restrictions, we soon realized this was not likely to work out. A simple fish head wouldn't be enough to address this space, so my proposed solution was to supplement the head with a stenciled pattern body and neon outline.

Salmon or Tuna?

Which type of fish do you think best represents quality sushi? We originally opted for salmon, hoping that its slimmer profile could better suit a short ceiling height. The anthropomorphic interpretation of this particular drawing left us seeing a happy-go-lucky being and perhaps not suitable for marketing a meat product.

Bait and Switch

Opting to maneuver our design around the dynamic silhouette of the yellowfin tuna, I sketched up a quick composition to work from.

Thinking in Dimension

The early stages of design can look pretty janky and unappealing. I spent a few days sculpting up a dimensional fish. Because we rejected the idea of a full-body fish, this model never got painted.

Final Stages

After salvaging the model fish head from the previous design, we agreed that multi-layer design would best encapsulate the wild energy of the rest of the store. This is the final elevation drawing. Our model fish head was painted and flown over to the fabricators in Korea to engineer the shop drawings.

The Final Product

Our fish peeks towards the mall entrance of the store, inviting newcomer curiosity towards center store.

Press & Mentions

VMSD | August 2017

Jae's Wanderlust | November 2016