reactions

As a marketer, how can you harness Design to support your brand’s strategic goals? When we speak of Design, (notice the capital D) we are of course not only talking about graphics and stylistic treatments (you already knew that right?) but about the organization of information, the hierarchy of messages and brand assets. Starting a project with a creative brief ensures that the visual design that emerges is purposeful, allowing your brand to perform in the market as you intended. It is the objective starting point before the more subjective design process begins.
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“Is having a blog and an email newsletter redundant?” a colleague recently asked. MSLK believes absolutely not. If utilized correctly both will draw from the same content plan, but your email newsletter helps you stay top of mind with your existing database while your blog is designed to help reach a larger network of followers on social media, including introducing your brand to perfect strangers. Here’s how:
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In today’s crowded marketplace, consumers and retailers don’t necessarily need another product in their lives. However humans are natural storytellers. We will always have room in our lives and on our shelves for brands that tell us something interesting .

For over 14 years we have helped brands find their voice in today’s crowded market and send that unified message across varied media. We also recognize that today’s busy consumer doesn’t read. Often a picture — or better yet — a movie is worth a thousand words. This 90 second reel of our work in fashion and beauty showcases a few of the stories we’ve created.
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MSLK just went live with the sixth in an ongoing series of videos to showcase what we do best: create 360° branding solutions for our clients. The video demonstrates how we guided performance sock manufacturer, Wigwam Mills, towards a refined market position, redesigned their packaging and came up with a new graphic language that they are utilizing in all of their promotional efforts.

If you are designer, you’ve probably already read Paula Scher’s opinion piece, ”AIGA: Unjustified“ in the online journal Imprint, decrying the AIGA‘s decision to forgo other competitions in favor of just one, “Justified.” It has generated an unprecedented amount of comments for the publication, and has polarized the design community. What you may not know is that my agency, MSLK, helped the AIGA in bringing Justified to life.

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In an effort to bring more recognition to Long Island City, MSLK has been working with the LIC Partnership on a master plan to foster growth. Our design and marketing efforts are helping to bring attention to the thriving economic, industrial and cultural developments that are occurring, making LIC truly a great place to live and work. Like the revitalization of Grand Central Station and Times Square, the visual component of these plans plays a large role in shaping the experience of these places. The main streets and intersections are now branded with bold banners welcoming the public.
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MSLK Creative Director and Co-Founder Marc S Levitt was quoted in a recent Atlantic article, speaking about the design profession’s critical — yet largely unsung — role. The article aims to draw parallels between wide-ranging professions from fact-checkers to anesthesiologists, describing them the “Invisibles.”

Citing examples ranging from book design to the now-infamous Palm Beach County “butterfly ballot” in the 2000 presidential election, Levitt describes the careful role designers play in shaping others’ content:

While some may think that the best design always grabs our attention, Levitt counters that great design often shouldn’t call attention to itself. “I’m not as concerned with prettying things up as I am with the end user being engaged in the right way.”

The article seeks to draw a connection between various professions, finding common traits:

Meticulousness, savoring great responsibility, and seeking only internal satisfaction are a trifecta of traits—a near antithesis of our societal ethos of insouciant attention-cravers—as a culture we’d all do well to follow.

Full article, by David Zweig, can be read here: http://mslk.co/zFPIm2

Over the years MSLK has had some truly gifted, inspired, and inspiring interns work in our studio. We find the experience to be rewarding and in many senses a way of giving back, showing others what we’ve learned over the years that has helped make our work award-winning.

Some of our best interns have been the youngest, and last year was no exception. We hosted a summer internship with a young gentleman named Leon Robinson as part of the Cooper Hewitt, National Design Museum’s 2011 Design Prep Scholar’s program. He worked with us to develop Read the Label, a self-initiated awareness campaign/eco-art project about the harmful ingredients found in everyday products.

The video above features Mr. Robinson recounting his experience here along with many other bright designers of tomorrow telling about their experiences. Congrats to all!

We are honored that the AIGA approached us to create the branding program for their new one and only design competition, Justified. Justified seeks examples of great design with proven track records vis a vis case studies that demonstrate how design has created value for clients and/or society. The landscape of design competitions has changed, and the AIGA is at the forefront, awarding those projects where design has produced measurable results. Read more to get a behind the scenes of our process in crafting this identity.
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Individuals with namesake brands often ask me if they should maintain a personal profile or a company page on Facebook. These individuals are often designers, authors, consultants, photographers and other artists who do business as themselves, ie: Jane Doe who runs Jane Doe Inc.  These companies are small businesses with five or less full-time employees. Many of them are Jane Doe working single-handedly to find and execute business assignments.  Jane barely has any time for marketing, but feels the pressure to join the social media revolution.

I always suggest that Jane start small with a personal profile. I’d rather see Jane’s social media efforts be a huge success, then deal with the “problem” of too many fans and too much activity before splitting the account, here’s why:
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