Chuchu Qi a.k.a. Chuchu
selected works [urban]
Pop-up Post-Office
Research Practice | 1 Design Lab
Winter 2019 | Practice
Izu-Inatori, Japan
Post-Office Wanna Know is a pop-up store that collects, promotes and creates local stories of Izu-Inatori. We collected warm and interesting stories from local residents and made them into a vividly illustrated postcard.
Travels are welcomed to explore local culture through these postcards and have their opportunities to create their very own postcard by asking the locals a question, which will be answered and mailed back to the travelers.
Travelers could also be our postwomen/postman, delivering mails for us to locations in town which is not typically explored by visitors, and get special rewards for their efforts.
Together in Post-Office Wanna Know, we create unique experience and memories through cultural interaction for travelers.
Izu-Inatori, photo took on site
Design Phase 1 | Interviews + Mapping, Field Research
Spending weeks in the town to talk to the local people, we collected the stories of interesting local cultures, people and items. Dolls in the local shrine that have the magic for fertility, biggest 甘橘 orange market in Japan at the mountain top, a lengenary rock... We made all these stories we found as inspiration of making them into the analog postcards.
Spending weeks in the town to talk to the local people, we collected the stories of interesting local cultures, people and items. Dolls in the local shrine that have the magic for fertility, biggest 甘橘 orange market in Japan at the mountain top, a lengenary rock... We made all these stories we found as inspiration of making them into the analog postcards.
Design Phase 2 | Translating + Prototyping
In the second phase of design after the fieldwork, we translated the local stories into the design of the postcard. With quick sketches, we tested different iterations of layouts and tested out the best way to visualize the stories. With the additional colors, we emphasized the focus of these cultural stories, making it easier for visitors to understand.
In the second phase of design after the fieldwork, we translated the local stories into the design of the postcard. With quick sketches, we tested different iterations of layouts and tested out the best way to visualize the stories. With the additional colors, we emphasized the focus of these cultural stories, making it easier for visitors to understand.
sketches of the postcard layout
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final postcard drawing
printed postcard
Design Phase 3 | Assembly + Construction
Preparation of “toolbox”
Paint and Assemble
