Since being founded in 2000, design collective MK12 has been producing cutting-edge title sequence design, game cinematics, music videos, and more in both the commercial and artistic arenas. Their work has won awards including Best Experimental Film at the Miami Short Film Festival and Most Innovative Short Film at the Mile High Film Festival, while in 2006 their short film Overload was inducted into the Guggenheim's permanent collection.
Most recently you may have feasted your eyes on the Missouri-based firm's work during the titles sequence of Quantum of Solace, the latest James Bond movie. And this Thursday you can join AIGA Arizona, the professional association for design, and MK12 at Arizona State University for a night of motion and design.
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MK12 has made a name for themselves by "challeng[ing] the boundaries between narrative structure and experimental storytelling" though their unique brand of integrating live action, graphic design, and new technology. In addition to their success with experimental short film, the collective has worked on a number of music videos and movies -- for example, designing the title sequence for the last James Bond film, a project into which they showed off experimental animation techniques while still preserving some of the traditional Bond-feel by using a limited color palette throughout.
"Preserving the tradition of the sequence was really important to us, and somewhat counterintuitively we chose to work with a lot of the pre-established tropes, particularly from the earlier years," MK12 told Art of the Title. "This is most evident in our type design, which was inspired by [Maurice] Binder's famous stop-frame dots in his Dr. No sequence, but it also informed our use of color, tone, and rhythm. We did this both as an homage and as a continuation -- a contribution to the larger coloring book."
The group has also worked on music videos for artists including Hot Hot Heat, Guided by Voices, and Common. The music video for his single "Go" won MK12 an an MTV Video Music Award nomination for Best Hip Hop Video in 2005. More recently, their work on Alicia Keys and Jack White's "Another Way To Die" video earned a Grammy nomination in the Best Short Form Music Video category in 2009.
You can catch MK12 this Thursday, August 22, at 7 p.m. at ASU Marston Exploration Theater in Tempe.
The event costs $15 for AIGA members and $20 for non-members. Student tickets are available for $10, and student AIGA members pay $7. Tickets can be purchased online.
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