Cold, grey and rainy. Those are the words I would use to describe today, but the onslaught of rain made me wonder. What if there is a way to bring magic to these dreary days? A quick search and presto! I may have found the most beautiful project I’ve ever laid eyes on.

In Seoul, South Korea, a group of creatives ( Seunghoon Shin, Yoonshin Kim and Nu Ri Kim) in collaboration with Pantone, executed Project Monsoon. During the monsoon period, the colourful and energetic city of Seoul is dragged into a tired greyness, so they decided to paint the streets with hydrochromatic paint. This paint is ‘water-activated’. Basically, it turns from transparent to opaque when wet. Pretty cool, right?

According to the team, South Korea has a culture which emphasises the ‘importance of the flow of rivers’ which became the prime focus of the art they depicted. The concept lay in creating flowing imagery in puddles of colour to return life to the vibrant city during this annual downpour.

Whales, fish and turtles are a few of the animals that delight the locals when their eyes would normally be staring at their soggy feet whilst their heads hide under their umbrellas.

The artists involved not only painted a smile on the population’s face, but also won a Black Pencil and a Yellow Pencil at the New Blood A&AD awards. That means they’ve been recognised for outstanding work and being ‘the best of the best’ (see D&AD New Blood Awards criteria here). So good to see an unorthodox project being recognised for excellence!

I had to stop myself wishing that the UK would introduce something similar, but realised that it rains the majority of the time here. I think the novelty would wear off within a week unfortunately.

If you’re interested in similar projects, check out Rainworks by Peregrine Church in Seattle.

Sources: D&AD, Daily Mail