FELT

FELT

Client: FELT
Design Company: studio fnt
Creative & Art Direction, Design: Jaemin Lee
Country: South Korea

FELT, a coffee brand as well as a coffee shop, opened their showroom in Seoul in September 2015. They also have their own roasting factory located in Gyeonggi-do, and distribute specialty coffee sourced by direct trade. In October 2018, they opened one more store in Gwanghwamun, the centre of Seoul. Every year, they visit coffee-producing regions to handpick the best. And they offer the best specialty coffee with quality control of professional green bean buyers, cuppers, roasters and baristas. From the coffee harvest to a finished cup of coffee, there is nothing unimportant in every process. FELT wants to participate in all of these processes.

At the start this project, I found very interesting points in their first showroom. There were no tables and movable chairs but only one long built-in bench around the walls. In that space, people were exchanging their glances without voice. It seemed like they are saying "Have you felt it?" It reminds me of some text written by Italo Calvino.

“In Chloe, a great city, the people who move through the streets are all strangers. At each encounter, they imagine a thousand things about one another; meetings which could take place between them, conversations, surprises, caresses, bites. But no one greets anyone; eyes lock for a second, then dart away, seeking other eyes, never stopping ( . . . ) Something runs among them, an exchange of glances like lines that connect one figure with another and draw arrows, stars, triangles, until all combinations are used up in a moment and other characters come on to the scene ( . . . ) A voluptuous vibration constantly stirs Chloe, the most chaste of cities.”
— from INVISIBLE CITIES / Chapter Three. Trading Cities 2.

Exchange, connect, flow, arrows, stars, triangles, vibration, ... Inspired by these words, I drew lines crossing each other. And I paid attention to the "number sign" (a.k.a. hashtag). It is used to indicate something special, something extraordinary and something remarkable. (a rotary dial, musical notation, Instagram, etc.)