Over the past five years, Downtown-based creative agency Intertrend has made it a point to offer those passing by their office building an interactive and visual experience in line with the Lunar New Year.

In 2016, people peeled red envelopes off the ground-floor windows for the Year of the Monkey, eventually revealing an ink-on-paper piece by internationally recognized artist James Jean. In 2019 an interactive, digital slot machine was activated for the Year of the Pig. In January of 2020, Intertrend created an outdoor neon artwork in celebration of the Year of the Rat.

Follow the paw prints to find this Year of the Rat installation in Downtown Long Beach

This week, in celebration of the upcoming holidays, Intertrend created the living room scene from the poem “Twas the Night Before Christmas.” A giant storybook sits behind the windows, complete with a few homages to Long Beach and a charming winter scene from the poem.

“We just want to put smiles on people’s faces and provide them a small sense of normalcy, nostalgia and warmth, especially during this particularly trying time,” said Rosanne Kang Jovanovski, Executive Creative Director for Intertrend and the lead on this latest window display.

Courtesy Intertrend

Designed by Intertrend’s creative and production teams, the installation also offers viewers a chance to activate an AR filter on their smartphones with a QR code, transporting participants to being tucked into bed under a lightly falling snow, holiday ornaments and sugar plums dancing above their heads.

“We’ve already had some reactions to the window as we were installing it,” said Jovanovski. “Passersby have had huge smiles, and have all said ‘Thank you.’ It feels great to acknowledge them and for us to have given them something to smile about.”

Intertrend’s Long Beach headquarters at 228 E. Broadway is housed in the second oldest commercial building in the city, once known as the Psychic Temple that, at one time, was the headquarters of the Society of New & Practical Psychology. With the historic landmark restored by Intertrend and local developer Jan van Dijs, over the years the agency has experimented with different ways of bringing a bit of happy pause to pedestrians in the area and this year, of all years, is no different.

Courtesy Intertrend

β€œIn this year of so much turmoil, and feeling disconnected to our colleagues, clients, friends, and family, we wanted to create something that simply felt comforting,” Jovanovski said. “Being transported by a magical moment of holiday nostalgia is our way of giving the community a much-needed hug. We hope you enjoy our little love letter to Long Beach this holiday season.”

The interactive window display will be on view from Wednesday, Dec. 23 through Wednesday, Jan. 6th at 228 E. Broadway.

Asia Morris is a Long Beach native covering arts and culture for the Long Beach Post. You can reach her @hugelandmass on Twitter and Instagram and at [email protected].