TUX Creative, a 360-degree design agency specialized in branding, has recently worked on the flagship design of 1MILLION, a dance school and management studio based in Seoul.

Tasked with reimagining the brand image and its spatial application, TUX ultimately reinvented the model of a “traditional” dance school for non-traditional street dancers and redefined the dance studio, for those who literally don’t need a “stage to dance”.

Environmental & Experiential Design Concept

TUX’s creative and holistic approach captured 1MILLION’s spirit and the essence of dance culture. With “we don’t need a stage to dance” as a motto, 1MILLION recognizes that dance is first and foremost a passion and that behind every dance clip, there are many hours of dedicated and rigorous training. To encourage students to dance both within and beyond the walls of the dance studios, mirrors, glass and other reflective finishes were used throughout the communal spaces (hallways, lounge area, lobby, etc.) to generate informal dance studios, where every reflective surface becomes an opportunity to practice.

The neutral palette of colors and materials provides a blank canvas where choreographers and students alike can let their style and dance moves express their creativity and become the main focus of attention. These canvases are the perfect backdrop for live performances and for recorded dance videos. With more than 20 million followers on YouTube and an Instagram feed in constant evolution, the flagship school lives beyond brick-and-mortar, with its premises visited digitally through the screens of dance aficionados all around the world.

The brand’s strong presence in the digital realm inspired TUX to design building features that dancers can integrate within their own digital content, driving the brand’s growth and recognition online. Displaying photogenic qualities, some examples of “instagrammable” moments and other selfie-worthy settings found inside the flagship studio include: 1MILLION’s manifesto, a colorful floor-to-ceiling wallpaper in one of the waiting areas, a pitch-black washroom with an eye-catching bright yellow sink, a dynamic LED and screen display installed on a 4-level void and quirky custom-design cushions. In the same vein, the logo is applied at different scales within the space and repetitively asserts its stamp-like nature as a “natural” watermark when integrated in any photo/video composition.

Finally, the use of raw metal, translucent polycarbonate panels, concrete-like finishes, tones of greys, and LED tubes results in an urban, edgy, and elevated ambiance. Modern and easily adaptable, the design features of the flagship are repeatable at other scales and in other locations, in response to the client’s objective of international expansion.

All in all, TUX’s aim at renewing 1MILLION’s brand image (including a new logo and a refreshed visual platform) materialized through the environmental and experiential design of its new flagship location redefined the concept of a typical dance school into a community - in real life and online - for dancers who have their passion at heart. 

Project Overview

Project Name: 1MILLION Flagship Design in Seoul

Project Type: Environmental & Experiential Design for a Dance School and a Management Studio 

Project Location: Seoul, South Korea

Completion: January 2020

Surface area: 2,500 square meters

Client: 1MILLION Dance Studio (https://www.1milliondance.com/) & 1MILLION Management (https://agency.1milliondance.com/)

Project Designer: TUX Creative (http://tux.co)

Environmental and Experiential Designer Lead: Sarah Tu, TUX Creative

Graphic Designer: Lian Benoit, TUX Creative

Architecture Firm: Wise Architecture (http://wisearchitecture.com/)

Lighting Specialist Consultant: EONSLD (http://www.eonsld.com/)

Professional Photos: Yoonsung Kwon/권윤성 (https://www.instagram.com/kwonyoonsung/)

Project Description: The first two levels include 2 large dance studios, changing rooms and lockers to accommodate over 120 students at a time, modular installations that can be used as merchandise displays and resting spots for students, a welcome/registration area, and a lounge area. The third and fourth levels are dedicated to 1MILLION management studio and employees’ offices and include a professional photography studio. The base building, layout and façade were conceived by a local architecture firm. TUX’s environmental and experiential interventions complement the building’s architecture and help express the brand’s revived image.

About TUX

TUX is a fully integrated creative agency, combining strategy, brand expression, photo/video/3D production, space design and planning, and media buying. Based in Montreal, TUX is one of Quebec’s largest international creative agencies, with over a third of its business conducted abroad, principally in the US, Europe, and Asia. Positioning itself as a partner with a compulsion to create, TUX is obsessed with creativity that grows business. (http://tux.co)

About 1MILLION 

1MILLION Dance is the most popular Korean and one of the most popular dance studios in the world, with over 20 million followers on their Youtube channel. Young, bold, and ambitious, they have choreographed dances for major brands like Heren, Nike, The North Face, Uniqlo and big K-Pop stars like Jay Park, Eric Nam and Chungha. (https://www.1milliondance.com/)