From the ritual drumbeats of African tribes to the golden halls of Vienna, from the impromptu humming of street performers to the precise harmonies of concert halls, music has always been a universal decoder of emotions across time and space. In the visual upgrade of MAC Cosmetics' Nanjing Deji store, Li Xiang, founder&chief designer of X+Living, have chosen “musical art” as the design motif for the commercial space, echoing the brand's inherent artistic nature (Art) in its DNA (Makeup·Art·Cosmetics). This choice is based on the transcultural emotional consensus that music, as a universal language, possesses aesthetic value and perceptual methods that are universally appealing. It transcends cultural barriers without relying on text or images, resonating with individuals of diverse aesthetic experiences. This aligns deeply with the brand's philosophy of “MAC Belongs to Everybody,” just as music crosses boundaries of race, gender, and age to touch the soul, the brand awakens individual self-expression through its diverse products.
The non-figurative nature of music and the rich artistic heritage of musical instruments have endowed designers with immense imaginative space and provided diverse containers for artistic expression. By leveraging various musical instruments as symbolic concepts and tangible representations, designers have composed a “brand symphony” for MAC, capturing its essence of inclusivity, avant-garde spirit, and diversity. This modular design approach not only ensures the consistency of brand identity but also reserves flexibility for narrative expansion in future iterations of the store’s visual upgrade.
For the MAC Cosmetics Nanjing Deji store, the piano is chosen as the design origin, marking the first movement of a serialized concept. Designers have translated the abstract essence of music into a tangible spatial aesthetic, utilizing deconstructivist techniques to convert the complex structure of the piano into a spatial narrative that embodies the brand's spirit. When the classical instrument is stripped of its ornate exterior, its exposed strings, action mechanism, and escapement are enlarged and reconfigured into a visually ordered matrix. The main visual facade of the store integrates the geometric language of classic bullet lipstick and monochromatic eyeshadow products into this mechanical array, combined with the MAC logo, creating a symbolic system with a distinctive brand DNA. The entire store appears as if carved out from the orderly elements of a piano. As people step inside, they feel as if they are entering the interior of a giant piano. This subversive interpretation of traditional forms aligns with the brand's declaration of "breaking conventions": the piano's core reveals the purity of music's essence, and MAC opposes superficiality to build a field for genuine and bold self-expression.
At the entrance, the form of a grand piano has been deconstructed into a signature display fixture for the store. The white keys, symbolizing the natural musical scale, establish the foundational framework of the melody, while the black keys, representing semitones, introduce complexity and depth to the harmonic structure. Drawing inspiration from this, designers have reimagined the display logic: the brand's iconic black tube lipsticks are arranged on white platforms, evoking the idea that lipsticks, like the main melody in daily life, bring richness and variety through their diverse colors, much like chords in a musical composition. This transforms the MAC Cosmetics color family into a visual spectrum—similar to how the chromatic scale offers endless possibilities in music, the brand creates a “color symphony” through its products, crafting unique aesthetic variations for each individual. This architectural reinterpretation of conceptual elements essentially establishes a brand experience paradigm where “space becomes the instrument.” As consumers navigate the artistic display platforms, selecting products, they resemble composers weaving intricate harmonies with their fingertips on piano keys, with each product interaction becoming an impromptu creation of an aesthetic melody.
The Customized Gift Area is designed based on the classic packaging of MAC Cosmetics products. It not only preserves the product recognizability but also endows the space with a dramatic narrative. By achieving a dynamic balance between industrial aesthetics and practical functionality, it transforms commercial activities into a perceptible brand aesthetic experience. The Infinite Fantasy Backstage uses a segment of piano mechanical structure suspended from the ceiling as a narrative thread to guide customers' exploratory paths. The integrated makeup stations located at the four corners, modeled after the product packaging, cleverly incorporate openable mirrored cabinets and pull-out makeup chairs. The flexible design with variable configurations allows the space to seamlessly switch between artistic display and commercial activities.
This avant-garde design, which resembles an art exhibition, not only continues MAC's brand proposition of integrating innovation into every seasonal product story, continuously collaborating with artists, and leading fashion trends, but also aligns perfectly with Deji Plaza's pursuit of artistic commercial spaces, injecting new landmark value into the mall that combines aesthetic depth and commercial vitality.
This is a boundary-breaking experiential space co-created by MAC Cosmetics and X+Living—where every makeup trial is a prelude to self-awakening, and every lip color application is a note of a personality declaration. Just as music can reach the soul without translation, this "Cosmetic Symphony Hall" constructed with mechanical poetics reinterprets the brand manifesto through spatial language: the right to beauty should flow as freely as music.
From the ritual drumbeats of African tribes to the golden halls of Vienna, from the impromptu humming of street performers to the precise harmonies of concert halls, music has always been a universal decoder of emotions across time and space. In the visual upgrade of MAC Cosmetics' Nanjing Deji store, Li Xiang, founder&chief designer of X+Living, have chosen “musical art” as the design motif for the commercial space, echoing the brand's inherent artistic nature (Art) in its DNA (Makeup·Art·Cosmetics). This choice is based on the transcultural emotional consensus that music, as a universal language, possesses aesthetic value and perceptual methods that are universally appealing. It transcends cultural barriers without relying on text or images, resonating with individuals of diverse aesthetic experiences. This aligns deeply with the brand's philosophy of “MAC Belongs to Everybody,” just as music crosses boundaries of race, gender, and age to touch the soul, the brand awakens individual self-expression through its diverse products.
The non-figurative nature of music and the rich artistic heritage of musical instruments have endowed designers with immense imaginative space and provided diverse containers for artistic expression. By leveraging various musical instruments as symbolic concepts and tangible representations, designers have composed a “brand symphony” for MAC, capturing its essence of inclusivity, avant-garde spirit, and diversity. This modular design approach not only ensures the consistency of brand identity but also reserves flexibility for narrative expansion in future iterations of the store’s visual upgrade.
For the MAC Cosmetics Nanjing Deji store, the piano is chosen as the design origin, marking the first movement of a serialized concept. Designers have translated the abstract essence of music into a tangible spatial aesthetic, utilizing deconstructivist techniques to convert the complex structure of the piano into a spatial narrative that embodies the brand's spirit. When the classical instrument is stripped of its ornate exterior, its exposed strings, action mechanism, and escapement are enlarged and reconfigured into a visually ordered matrix. The main visual facade of the store integrates the geometric language of classic bullet lipstick and monochromatic eyeshadow products into this mechanical array, combined with the MAC logo, creating a symbolic system with a distinctive brand DNA. The entire store appears as if carved out from the orderly elements of a piano. As people step inside, they feel as if they are entering the interior of a giant piano. This subversive interpretation of traditional forms aligns with the brand's declaration of "breaking conventions": the piano's core reveals the purity of music's essence, and MAC opposes superficiality to build a field for genuine and bold self-expression.
At the entrance, the form of a grand piano has been deconstructed into a signature display fixture for the store. The white keys, symbolizing the natural musical scale, establish the foundational framework of the melody, while the black keys, representing semitones, introduce complexity and depth to the harmonic structure. Drawing inspiration from this, designers have reimagined the display logic: the brand's iconic black tube lipsticks are arranged on white platforms, evoking the idea that lipsticks, like the main melody in daily life, bring richness and variety through their diverse colors, much like chords in a musical composition. This transforms the MAC Cosmetics color family into a visual spectrum—similar to how the chromatic scale offers endless possibilities in music, the brand creates a “color symphony” through its products, crafting unique aesthetic variations for each individual. This architectural reinterpretation of conceptual elements essentially establishes a brand experience paradigm where “space becomes the instrument.” As consumers navigate the artistic display platforms, selecting products, they resemble composers weaving intricate harmonies with their fingertips on piano keys, with each product interaction becoming an impromptu creation of an aesthetic melody.
The Customized Gift Area is designed based on the classic packaging of MAC Cosmetics products. It not only preserves the product recognizability but also endows the space with a dramatic narrative. By achieving a dynamic balance between industrial aesthetics and practical functionality, it transforms commercial activities into a perceptible brand aesthetic experience. The Infinite Fantasy Backstage uses a segment of piano mechanical structure suspended from the ceiling as a narrative thread to guide customers' exploratory paths. The integrated makeup stations located at the four corners, modeled after the product packaging, cleverly incorporate openable mirrored cabinets and pull-out makeup chairs. The flexible design with variable configurations allows the space to seamlessly switch between artistic display and commercial activities.
This avant-garde design, which resembles an art exhibition, not only continues MAC's brand proposition of integrating innovation into every seasonal product story, continuously collaborating with artists, and leading fashion trends, but also aligns perfectly with Deji Plaza's pursuit of artistic commercial spaces, injecting new landmark value into the mall that combines aesthetic depth and commercial vitality.
This is a boundary-breaking experiential space co-created by MAC Cosmetics and X+Living—where every makeup trial is a prelude to self-awakening, and every lip color application is a note of a personality declaration. Just as music can reach the soul without translation, this "Cosmetic Symphony Hall" constructed with mechanical poetics reinterprets the brand manifesto through spatial language: the right to beauty should flow as freely as music.
