Bringing extraordinary to the everyday. Creating a new digital visual experience for a luxury retail destination in Macau that pays homage to the juxtaposing techniques of surrealist art.

China Duty Free

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#### In brief

Macau is the city of wonders. Combining five-century-old Portuguese colonial legacy and cultural influences of Asia, Macau is a captivating contrast of West and East, of old and new, attracting millions of visitors every year to the city that always entertains, fascinates and inspires.

Macau’s latest jewel in its crown is the opening of the Grand Lisboa Palace Hotel, a resort in Cocai, Macau, by Sociedade de Jogos de Macau, and China Duty Free (cdf). Cdf, China’s largest travel retail operator, takes up 7,500 square metres of space to create an unrivalled luxury retail and travel destination on the island. 

It is designed to evoke opulence and luxury with the use of gardens, ornamental bridges and walkways. All while showcasing the cdf experience to the world and marking a milestone in its strategic growth in the China Greater Bay Area.

We partnered with cdf Macau to create an extravagant digital visual experience for its new flagship destination. The ambition was to capture the imagination of the affluent visitors of Macau, a city known for its larger-than-life attitude. 

#### What we did

Our brief was to create an artistic expression for nine digital screens that included 20-meter ceiling displays and LED wall panels three times the height of its visitors to revere and to awe.

Inspired by an idea of ‘Surreal Island’, we created a series of immersive and sensory visual animations that play on scale of the space and pay homage to the juxtaposing technique of surrealist art. Working in collaboration with Peru-based surrealist illustrator, Paolo Torres, and the cdf team, we created a poetic world inhabited by characters and scenes, designed in a whimsical combination of retail products and magical creatures. 

A Tiger tote stalks the rainforest and a Venus statue built of lipstick sits at the centre of a lake, whilst porcelain whales dance in the sky. Each of these narratives was illustrated and brought to life in motion, seamlessly blending creative tech, illustration, art direction and cinematography, with each sensory experience designed to seamlessly exist alongside the store’s daily life. The scenes are highly intricate, with night and day cycles that reveal new discoveries from every viewpoint, bringing extraordinary to the everyday.

> "Macau is known for its larger-than-life attitude to experiences, having established its identity as an entertainment and travel city in the last 15 years. Our hope is that we are able to transport our guests to another world as soon as they step into our store and that this project marks the beginning of an otherwise expansive brand world for Surreal Island, where we can break out of the original retail context into other platforms and experiences."
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> *– China Duty Free International representative*

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> "The project has been a truly collaborative effort that spanned across time-zones and continents, involving creatives both internally and externally from Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, Italy, London and Peru. The China Duty Free team gave us an invaluable opportunity to flex our skills beyond branding into experience design – culminating in a fine blend of creative tech, illustration, art direction and cinematography. This immersive and dreamlike space speaks to the vibrancy of experiences and culture in Macau, setting up the flagship as a true destination for luxury shopping."
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> *– Louisa Luk, Senior Designer, Hong Kong*

We partnered with China Duty Free International and Peru-based surrealist illustrator, Paolo Torres, to create a poetic world inhabited by characters and scenes, designed in a whimsical combination of retail products and magical creatures. Seamlessly blending creative tech, illustration, art direction and cinematography, with each sensory experience designed to exist alongside the store’s daily life.

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Creating a ‘Surreal Island’, an immersive and sensory retail experience that pays homage to the juxtaposing technique of surrealist art. 

Design Bridge and Partners | China Duty Free

Superunion and Design Bridge come together to create Design Bridge and Partners. Redefining what design is and what design can do for brands, businesses, people and the planet. We are a revolutionary design partnership.

Design Bridge and Superunion come together to create Design Bridge and Partners. Redefining what design is and what design can do for brands, businesses, people and the planet. We are a revolutionary design partnership.

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China Duty Free

Bringing extraordinary to the everyday. Creating a new digital visual experience for a luxury retail destination in Macau that pays homage to the juxtaposing techniques of surrealist art.