Launching 爱彼迎 (Ai Bi Ying)

Behind the scenes of our latest brand launch film

Categories: Behind the Scenes — Airbnb Editorial

Our Singapore-based creative team wanted a community-oriented way to introduce our new Chinese brand name, Ai Bi Ying, to our local Chinese audience. The characters of “Ai Bi Ying” translate into three distinctly separate ideas in English: “welcome,” “love” and “each other.” Although these 3 word-characters are common in the Chinese language, they are never grouped together in the order that they are – “Aibiying.”

We partnered with four emerging artists to create a short film that interprets each character as a work of art. In the film we see how each artist – a typographer, an installation artist, and a fashion designer, express their interpretation of the meaning of “welcome each other with love.” From the last snowflakes of winter in China’s northeast, to the neon lights of Shanghai’s expressways, to the countless times of day that the individual Chinese characters “Ai,” “bi,” & “ying,” are seen throughout China — we see, hear, and experience a montage of visual inspiration intermixed with glimpses of their final creations.

Partners: Zhang Tian, Tian Mo ‘Momo’ Wang, Ma Jiqiu and Ying Yong Hui | Creative Lead:  Samya Deb

 

An artist from the video works with neon string. A neon sculpture creates a Chinese character. A neon sculpture creates three Chinese characters, Ai Bi Ying. An artist from the video and young girl pose with an oversized knitting needle and scarf. A young child from the video rolls about on an oversized, knitted sweater. An artist from the video, creating a wooden sculpture. An artist from the video, creating a wooden sculpture.

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