MK12 have had a lot of success with motion design work within a short amount of time. Based in Kansas City, they manage to work both sides of the country and still keep everyone happy. They’ve also been featured in the book “72dpi Anime,” reviewed elsewhere in this issue.

Who makes up MK12?

There’s six of us — all designers and filmmakers. Myself, Jed Carter, Tim Fisher, Shaun Hamontree, Matt Fraction and John Dretzka. With the exception of Shaun, we’re all graduates of the Kansas City Art Institute’s Photo / New Media Department. Though our strength is motion design, we also have backgrounds in print, fine art, and interactive media.

How did you get your start?

MK12 formally began a little under two years ago; before that we had been freelancing on a website project funded by an outside investor. When things went south for internet stocks, we lost the project but decided stay together and start things from scratch, as we saw fit.

What are some of the motives behind MK12?

First and foremost, our interests are good design and intelligent narrative, and projects that we take on (hopefully) fit those criteria. In-house projects and short films are also an important part of MK12, as they keep our perspectives fresh and inevitably inform what we do professionally.

We’re here because we don’t always agree with the way that traditional business is done. We feel that we have much to offer the design community and the world at large, and given time, practice, and a lot of late nights, we’ll be heard.

How important is pop culture to your work as far as shows that you grew up watching or films that you think may inform your work now?

It’s important in that we’re all sorta walking pop culture databases. On the flipside, none of us can remember to eat three times a day or how balance a checkbook.

Do you see yourselves doing more 3D projects in the future and how much of a factor will it be?

We’ve never favored of one particular technology over

another; 3D is always a part of our work, though mostly as a compliment to 2D animation and motion design. A project’s final form always takes precedence over the tools used to create it, and we’re more interested in taking on projects of conceptual or visual merit than those of technical proficiency.

With the amount of time video work entails, do you find yourself taking on projects in other mediums?

We haven’t had many opportunities to work outside the realm of video and animation, though we’ve wanted to expand into print & layout design. Currently, we’re working on a book project, and we also have a gallery show in the works.

Do you have a favorite director(s)?

Between the six of us, we could probably cite a list the size of a novel, so I’ll refrain from being too specific. Fellini to Jeunet to Kieslowski to Cunningham to Lynch, and plenty in between…

Can you remember the last time you experienced something that made you “run with glee” to go work on a creative project?

Film festivals always have that effect on us; they’re good reminders of why we fell in love with film and animation in the first place, and it’s always rewarding to screen work in that context.

And one, final, question. Who is “President Steve Elvis America?”

Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America is all of us. He’s the Manliest Man inside each and every man, woman and child, he’s the soft, sensual velveteen woman with a flower in her hair and a gleam in her eye. He’s the little kid in love with the world so much that all he can do is spin around in circles until collapsing. Steve Elvis America is our Universal Man of ACTION.

Thanks Guys.

MK12

Interview by: Jarrett Kertesz

Newstoday have started the mother of all message boards for design-minded individuals. Most design news sites have link boards that the moderators of the sites post on themselves. Newstoday has taken this concept a step further and, along with a moderated message board, have opened it up for anyone to post whatever link or message they want. We talk about this and their plans for the future of Newstoday.

Who makes up Newstoday?

The audience first and foremost.

Newstoday was initially conceived and designed by Quorporation, which consists of Jason Kristofer & Folkert Gorter. The idea led to a hostile take-over of H73 from Mat Mejia, which resulted in a smooth collaboration between QBN and H73. Technical development is handled by php gods Mike Buzzard of Objectiv.com and Chris Lea of chrislea.com and native content by all NTB Editors.

What projects were you each involved in before this?

Between QBN and H73: Uploading, Sector216, Droppod, DinGrafik, Superfamous, Quorporation, H73, Sape and Paradox.

What was the main reason for starting Newstoday?

Power to the people.

We wanted to create an audience that any artist or designer could present their work too. We are obviously aware of the fact that there are many stages out there that provide this, but these stages are restricted to the personal tastes, likes, dislikes and opinions of the moderators running them. Our large audience is generated by people wanting to hear “design-news” from the horse’s mouth, i.e. the “Celebrities” in the scene, i.e. the people leading this scene and the trends, the fashion, the new ideas. By now creating an additional space for everyone and their dog to promote theirs or others’ work freely, they benefit from the existing audience and get exposure previously unheard of. This benefits the artist and the audience, since the audience is getting an uncensored bird’s-eye-view of the complete design scene and has access to all potentially new ideas and talents that might never have seen the light of day, while the artist immensely and instantly expands their audience and thus exposure.

How long did it take to get your site up? It looks like a lot of thought and planning went into it.

Thought and planning took about 7 years, implementation roughly an hour.

It seems like most of the users who post on “The Public Voice” message board moderate things pretty well. Have there been any incidents in the past with users posting totally inappropriate messages?

Unfortunately, yes. Although we surely anticipated this kind of behavior, it is always hard to see your creation tainted by irresponsibility and immaturity. We find comfort in reminding ourselves that we cannot be disappointed by this, since this was our audience to begin with. This is our beloved design scene, these are the inhabitants of Newstoday. It’s not always rose-scent and moonshine, and people are learning to live with it and deal with it on their own. PV-AN takes less moderation everyday, there is a solid, honest & relevant community growing there, enabling smart content and intelligent conversation.

Can you talk about your upcoming plans for registering users? How will this affect the “The Public Voice” area?

“Operation Lockdown” is a very minor addition that will require users to log in using a password that has been sent to a valid email address. This negative necessity brings a lot of positive potential features, like personal profiles, public user statistics, community features, etc.

Will the list of “Newstoday Broadcast Editors” remain static or will new designer/editors be added occasionally?

“Newstoday Broadcast Editors” will be added and/or rotated by QBN on a regular basis.

Who are some of your favorite designers?

Bruce Mau, Tibor Kalman, Josef Muller-Brockmann, Jan Tschichold, Paul Rand, Max Bruinsma, Saul Bass, to name a few.

Are there any websites you can’t live without?

www.geocities.com/asianprince213

What will be next for Newstoday?

More, Better.

Oh, and world domination.

Thanks Guys.

Newstoday
Quorporation

Interview by: Jarrett Kertesz