Min Heejin - the graphic designer for f(x)'s album "4 Walls" - Previous works with the group
Min Heejin's Biography
Min Heejin is a well-known South Korean creative director and designer who has made significant contributions to the K-pop industry. She became well-known for her inventive and visually appealing album designs for numerous K-pop groups. Her work frequently pushes the bounds of standard design, including one-of-a-kind and artistic features that resonate with the themes of the music and the artists' identities.
Min Heejin has worked with several well-known acts, including Red Velvet and f(x), and has left an indelible stamp on the visual aesthetics of their album covers and conceptions. Her designs are praised for their originality since they capture the soul of each band's musical style and conceptual narrative.
While specifics of her personal life are not well known, Min Heejin's influence in the K-pop business has cemented her status as a visionary in the field of visual design. Her ability to combine artistic originality with K-pop act branding has earned her a place in the entertainment world.
Her designs demonstrate a preference for dynamic compositions, vivid colour palettes, and thematic coherence. She cleverly incorporates collage and multimedia components, creating visually complex narratives that complement the core of the song.
The official album cover for f(x)'s album "4 Walls"
It was the year 2015 when the girl group f(x) released their last album, and perhaps, their best album in the discography: 4 Walls. What makes this album stand out is how much attention Min Heejin has paid to, it and how the roll-out campaign was created to generate buzz for the album.
Images make meaning: One of the characteristics of her works as both a graphic designer and an art director is how every image makes meaning, to construct a broader concept or a general philosophy. The analogy here is that the "four walls" represent the confinement and limitations that come with love and being in a relationship. On another hand, visuals and sounds go hand in hand, just like butter on toast, having a good cover artwork will enhance the listening experience, as well as create a distinct identity for the record.
Designing language: The album cover is clear evidence of how the design trend of that time was incorporated into her works. Flat and material design was the design approach to this album. Everything was designed in a 2D dimension, which means that there is no shadow drop, or any elements that mimic real-life objects – this is in contrast to skeuomorphism (another designing aspect that can be seen during her early designing career). This approach offers a very slick, modern look to the album cover and the design language of the whole era. Because Kpop is a fast-paced industry, in which visuals are being focused, means that the designing factor, or, designing trends, all come and go quite fast. What I like about Min Heejin is how fast she adapts to all the trends and how clearly they are reflected through her work at that time.
Desiging process: Knowing this, she incorporated members’ photoshoots with flat-styled illustrations of the four walls, all edited with the blue hue on a hot orange background - a classic colour combination. What I like here is how contrasting the image is, making the cover really pop out and grab the viewer’s attention. Below that, there’s the tracklist and the copywriting line. This cover, to me, is very basic, to the point that I can also interpret that in Illustrator and Photoshop, but what makes it stand out is the amount of details and the chic in her design – it creates a sophisticated, whimsical, mysterious tone for the cover.
Moving teasers for the album
Normally, for a new K-pop record roll-out, teaser posters are a big part of this process as they offer the tone, mood, and style of the new music coming out. F(x)’s 4 Walls posters were a big hit in 2015, and still up to now, no group has done this type of “moving-gif-poster” like f(x). This offers another view on Min Heejin’s works, that she knows how to merge the trend, the design, and the technology all at once.
This type of poster is not new, but at the time it was released, the critics were praising her for how experimented she was for the group’s work.
Another fun fact is that f(x) was created to be THE experimental group of SM Entertainment, and Min Heejin has worked with f(x) since their debut and throughout their career. Their music was ”weird” and not easy to listen to at that time, so they needed their image to go in that unconventional direction too.
The whole visual roll-out for 4 Walls was very consistent in style, the group logo and the “4 walls” illustrations can be seen everywhere, as well as the contrasting colour combination blue and orange. It was something simple, but neat, and hard to go out of style
Promotional posters for the 4 Walls's exhibit
In addition to the traditional K-pop album roll-out, Min Heejin also came up with the idea of opening a public art exhibition to create buzz for the album - which was never done in K-pop. The exhibition showcases new teaser photos and song snippets every day until the album's official release. The visual design of the "4 Walls" art show is important not only as a promotional tool but also in conveying the thematic depth and creative vision behind f(x)'s music. It transforms the physical area into a vivid canvas, encouraging people to immerse themselves in the convergence of sound and visual art in a genuinely immersive and unique experience.
The art exhibit "4 Walls" by f(x) is a visually beautiful showcase that perfectly mixes the worlds of music and visual art. The exhibition's graphic design aspects contribute to the entire immersive experience, capturing the essence of f(x)'s conceptual record. The promotional materials, which include posters and banners, feature a dynamic combination of geometric shapes, echoing the architectural concept of the "4 Walls" album. The use of a strong colour palette, frequently inspired by the record cover, produces a sense of consistency and harmony throughout the display area.
I would also like to take note of the sans-serif font used for the entire era, not only does it connote a fresh, modern feel to the record, but it works better on bright and contrast backgrounds, in this case, orange and blue, compared to a traditional serif font. She mainly uses just one font for the whole album roll-out, adding a niche touch of consistency to the album as a whole work of art.
Album's packaging design
