reactions

A great video has been put together about the event we were part of earlier this month.

Please “click” here to see!

I recently visited the Met to go see the bamboo installation that I’ve been hearing so much about. And it was not a disappointment! Big Bambú is an art installation created by the brothers Doug + Mike Starn. The impressive structure on top of the roof of the Met is already 100 feet wide and will continue to grow upwards as the artist work on it over the summer, their goal is to reach 50 feet high. If you’re in NY I highly recommend going for a visit, if not have a look at these photos!

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The opening night for Uncomfortable Conversations on Sunday was a big success. The small gallery space in the Meatpacking District was jam-packed with visitors adding to the intimate uncomfortable vibe of the night. MSLK’s pieces were highly appreciated and initiated a lot of conversations about the design and message. Some people saw the “right” message while others saw the hidden unintended one. This often led to humorous conversations about “you see what you want to see” and “what’s really on your mind”. The question is: what do you see?

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What do you see above? Do you read “click here” or something a little, well… different? If your first read made you blush and feel a little uncomfortable, well that’s exactly what can happen when type is poorly set!

Amid all of the comfortable furniture at The International Contemporary Furniture Fair next week, MSLK and 14 other designers will be sparking some Uncomfortable Conversations at a show of the same name. Conceived by our friends and colleagues at Design Glut and sponsored by Fast Company, the show challenges viewers to step outside their comfort zone and willfully engage in an uncomfortable conversation. As designers we are highly attuned to the unsettling feelings poor design can create, especially poorly set type.

For the show we explore five examples of how careless kerning can lead to unintended miscommunication. If you’re in NYC, please join us for the opening reception on Sunday, May 16th. We expect it to be uncomfortably crowded.

Busy. That’s one word to describe things at MSLK these days.

While we have the benefit of working on many inspiring projects for our clients, we’re also hard at work on Take-Less, the third in a trilogy of what we’ve come to call eco-art installations. In an effort to be greener, we’re using our talents to focus people on the sheer volume of plastic we all consume in our daily lives. Whether it’s plastic bags, plastic water bottles, or the durable and resilient plastic containers we use for a moment with our take-out food — this cheap plastic comes at a cost.

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It’s interesting to see how brands either are leading or following visual trends, especially as technology impacts the media that brands are showcased. The old rules about logos (i.e. must exist as a black & white version for faxing, fewer colors for ease of printing) are being completely re-written in the digital age.

MSLK’s logo — the embodiment of our brand featuring overlapping initial of its founders “MSL” and “SLK” — was borne from the concept of wanting to showcase that the company is the overlapping of two initials, and  talents. We experimented with a number of different ways to showcase this (different fonts, different sizes, etc.), and has existed intact for almost 14 years. The result still garners compliments from those who are being introduced to our brand.

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The Swedish newspaper SN recently contacted me to talk a little bit about my move to New York and my new job at MSLK. As the article’s in Swedish I’ll give you a brief translation.

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Throughout the years MSLK has created a number of designer posters, cards and tags that are available in our online shop. We see it as a great way for our fans to take home a piece of the MSLK brand experience. We’ve now given it a bit of a facelift, updated with new products and moved everything to the curated marketplace Felt & Wire. The Felt & Wire Shop features a unique selection of all types of paper design. From letter-pressed invitations to brightly colored wrapping paper, we feel right at home here. Have a look around in the shop and keep a look out for new products coming soon!

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I’ll be giving a talk next week about the key things companies should watch out for before embarking on a website redesign (hint: it’s never as easy as you think it’ll be).

Last year I wrote a widely published article “Nine Steps to a Successful Site Redesign” which I will be basing the majority of my talk on.

MSLK has a lot of experience here, having helped a variety of companies develop their own sites over the years for clients as varied as the established Wall Street Journal and Wigwam Mills to the more out-there M Studio and James Porto. We recently had the opportunity turn the tables on ourselves last year by launching our own redesigned site.

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MSLK has produced some fun and informative short films showcasing our work and design process.   These were created to demonstrate to clients our 360° approach to branding. We found that video is a great way to fully explain all the details and thought that goes into each project.

Above is our video detailing our rebranding efforts for Velo Classic Tours, a luxury bicycle tour company. You can view the other 360° videos on our website, and we’ll be posting a new project to the blog each week.

Enjoy!

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