Meet Particlefield, the humour-filled digital studio with mind-boggling promo videos

On a day that seemed like any other, we were trawling the internet for new, exciting work to feature on It’s Nice That and came across something that is nothing short of incredible. In the midst of a deep scroll hole, we landed on the Vimeo page of the Seoul-based digital creative studio, Particlefield. The info, short and sweet, at the top of the page reads as follows: “We love all sensuous forms of digital media and a flash of humour.” Then, we clicked on the video underneath and pretty instantly, our minds were blown. Who is this digital studio who’ve created a full-on, Hollywood-style trailer (but with VFX and animation) to showcase their work?

Behind the mind-bogglingly magical video work is Tae Kyung Park, Jisoo Lee and Junghyun Eom. Together, the three-person studio embarks on 2D, 3D, VFX, VJiing and live performances projects; practically taking on anything that moves on screen, and collaborating with graphic designers and videographers wherever needs be.

The founding designers met at university studying visual communication, and started sharing work with each other once they’d graduated. “Particlefield became a real business as we grew it from scratch,” explains Tae Kyung, “and we hired a new 3D artist when needed.” At university, the group started to work together on video projects, learning about film, motion graphics and animation along their way. With time, the Korean practitioners developed a mutual style, complimentarily utilising digital textures and high saturations of RGB colour across the studio’s vivid work.

Though the studio’s main focus is commercial briefs within the cultural sector, Tae Kyung, Jisoo and Junghyun try to maintain their sense of humour across all projects. The result is jubilant men with juicy bodies jiggling up and down in excitement for Roger Neill’s music video Santabarbara and a bass-throbbing digital mash up for Kirara-Blink’s latest track.

Whatever the subject, Particlefield translates static images into dynamic videos. In many cases, the studio are provided with inspiration from the client. Jisoo then adds on other modes of influence, “We usually like everything we see on the internet. We’re interested in web content such as k-pop music videos, memes and various internet-based platforms.” Through this hubbub of avenues, the digital studio never fail to make the viewer smile with its vivid (and often bizarre) visuals.

With two promo videos under its belt, Particlefield overlap with the fine art realm and have unexpectedly exhibited its surreal videos at group exhibitions. Though their ultimate function is to advertise the studio to potential clients, the highly artistic pieces are both surreal and imaginative; not to mention executed beautifully. While the first video plays on the over-egged dramatisations of the advertising industry, the second is more of a humorous look at the studio’s work once its third member came onboard. Junghyun adds: “These two works are completely full of stories we want to tell and are full of our favourite images.”

Taking the self-initiated material to a whole other level, Particlefield even rented their “favourite little club for a party” to mark its first anniversary. People even arrived with gifts! They designed a mouse pad for their party-goers adorned with After Effects and Cinema 4D shortcuts as a kind of “brand swag” and surprisingly, the mouse pads went down extremely well. It has since become a trademark symbol for the studio and a catalyst for new audiences. Above all however, amidst the flowing tide of work, as Particlefield look to the future, the three members value their close friendship most of all and “want to keep the relationship rich for as long as possible.”