[Herald Design Forum 2020] Experts share key know-how for attracting future audiences

Three experts from different fields-- D’strict CEO Lee Sung-ho, Dophiners Films CEO Shin Woo-seok and Z-lab CEO Noh Kyung-rok -- shared their thoughts Thursday about attracting audiences in the future during the 10th edition of Herald Design Forum held at Paradise City in Incheon.

The annual event which celebrates the art of design and its value was conducted this year under the title of “Another 10 Years.”

The CEO of D’strict, the company that created a successful public media art piece titled “Wave” at Coex K-pop Square in Seoul, said that the future audiences will be more attracted to easy to understand and immersive cultural content.

“Due to the invention and advancement of photography, artists who paint what they see lost their merits. Instead, these artists started creating art pieces that reflect their different views. I see that this change has made art difficult for the public to understand. We often visit a museum and see modern art pieces that are hard to comprehend. Even after reading its description, it is still difficult. We took the time to think about this difficulty,” Lee said. “We came to the conclusion that digital media is another invention and tool that will make changes. It allows us to create artwork that is easy for the public to comprehend.”

He also added that future audiences will place greater value in experiences.

“Immersive media offers a wider variety of experiences while saving money,” Lee said.
 

Lee introduced a space where people can experience strolling along a beach in northern Europe at the exhibition organized by the company‘s collective art unit A’strict as an example.

“To experience this northern Europe beach in real life, people have to fly to Europe and have to wait for the right time to enjoy the view. But in our space, people can experience the atmosphere cost-effectively,” Lee added.

Shin Wook-seok, CEO of Dolphiners Film, which is a company that started off as a film production firm but is now also known for creating creative and viral commercials, emphasized the importance of making advertisements that fit the new media platform.

“People did not have a choice but to watch TV commercials, but due to the advancement of new media content, people now have a choice of skipping commercials that they do not want to watch,” Shim said.

“When we entered the commercials industry, we were told by agencies and also production teams that commercials should not be longer than a minute,” Shim said.

“But our successful commercials like the one starring soccer player Ahn Jeong-hwan is 4 minutes and 30 seconds long. Also, there is a commercial for the game Brawl Stars starring Lee Byung-hun, which is 7 minutes 30 seconds long. It also went viral.”

He added that a Canon commercial starting Ahn had over 10 million views and the Brawl Stars commercial also had 30 million views on YouTube.

Shim also emphasized the importance of good storytelling, which can make audiences willing to spend their time watching a commercial.

“For a camera commercial, it used to be done with handsome actors posing with cameras at some exotic place,” Shim said. “I created a story of our model being arrested and being attacked by a bear while holding a camera. The person who was in charge of confirming our Canon commercial said the story is funny but is not adequate. I filmed it personally and showed it to convince her.” He added that this different story was the key for the commercial’s success.

“Viral films get their report card right away through comments and views. Through our experience, we see that it is crucial to be brave when creating content for new media content users,” Shim added.
 

Architectural company Z_lab CEO Noh suggested a measure to provide a new cultural experience while using different local characteristics and traditional contents.

“We conducted Waon project in Jeju,” Noh said. Through this project, the company renovated old local houses that people no longer live in and turned it into more modernized accommodation.

“We applied the theme ‘therapy’ to space. As architects, we cannot provide direct services as therapy but we tried to provide comforting space where people can rest on their own,” Noh said. “When doing this type of work, we always prioritize the local identity. We see that this is something that only we can do.”

By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)