Creative Musing
September 2024
Monarchy
Chronicles is a repository of articles, client projects, creative musings and products.
All content is copyrighted by MKN Design. Reproduction without express written consent is prohibited. To license a specific illustration or design, please contact me via email.
Multiplayer Tetris & Game Over
Creative Musing + Product
August 2024
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Multiplayer Tetris & Game Over
Created these for the love of 1980’s arcade graphics. Tetris was created by Soviet software engineer Alexey Pajitnov in 1984 and was released in the United States by Atari Games in 1988.
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Multiplayer Tetris & Game Over graphic tees are available for purchase on Cotton Bureau. Check out more graphic tees on my Cotton Bureau profile page.
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Note: All Cotton Bureau apparel comes in a variety of clothing types, styles, fits, sizes, materials, and colors.
Orb
Creative Musing + Product
June 2024
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Orb
Creating a celestial feeling through experimentation with shapes, blurs, and textures.
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Orb graphic tee is available for purchase on Cotton Bureau. Check out more graphic tees on my Cotton Bureau profile page.
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Note: All Cotton Bureau apparel comes in a variety of clothing types, styles, fits, sizes, materials, and colors.
Anatomy of Twitter
Creative Musing + Product
June 2024
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Anatomy of Twitter
I pulled this illustration from my archives (originally created in 2010). When Twitter existed before becoming 'X', the internet dubbed my illustration "The Anatomy of a Tweet." My original aim was to depict the thinking (brain) and feeling (heart) of users, highlighting the struggle to balance logic and emotion tweets.
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Anatomy of Twitter graphic tee is available for purchase on Cotton Bureau. Check out more graphic tees on my Cotton Bureau profile page.
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Note: All Cotton Bureau apparel comes in a variety of clothing types, styles, fits, sizes, materials, and colors.
Zero/One & Ninety-Nine
Creative Musing + Product
April 2024
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Zero/One & Ninety-Nine
These numbers were my favorites growing up. Zero/One (or 10) is from the Dodge Charger that Bo and Luke drove on, Dukes of Hazzard. Ninety-nine of course came from my favorite hockey player, Wayne Gretzky who played for the Edmonton Oilers from 1979–1988.
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Zero/One & Ninety-Nine graphic tees shown in this post are available for purchase on Cotton Bureau. Check out more graphic tees on my Cotton Bureau profile page.
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Note: All Cotton Bureau apparel comes in a variety of clothing types, styles, fits, sizes, materials, and colors. -
The numbers featured on these tee graphics come from a display typeface I designed. It’s available for purchase, view Sum here.
Super Phat
Creative Musing + Product
April 2024
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Super Phat
A design exploration to find a typeface that embodies “Super Phat”. I believe I choose right. The typeface I used is Sutturah designed by Octavio Pardo from Rosetta Type Foundry.
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Super Phat graphic tee, pocket tee and cap are available for purchase. Check out more graphic tees on my Cotton Bureau profile page.
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Note: All Cotton Bureau apparel comes in a variety of clothing types, styles, fits, sizes, materials, and colors.
Skull & Bones
Creative Musing + Product
September 2023
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Skull & Bones
For a limited time some of the icons I created for Halloween will be available on graphic tees at Cotton Bureau. I’ve paired the icons with the typeface Metalista designed by Tomáš Brousil from Suitcase Type Foundry.
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Skull & Bones (top right tee) is the only available tee in this series to purchase (check back in early October 2024 to purchase the others). Peruse more graphic tees on my Cotton Bureau profile page.
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Note: All Cotton Bureau apparel comes in a variety of clothing types, styles, fits, sizes, materials, and colors.
Coldbreak, Brand Strategy & Identity
Client Project
March 2022
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Coldbreak, Brand Strategy & Identity
Coldbreak started in 2005 from humble beginnings. As they grew, they acquired a stellar reputation within the draft equipment industry. Today they are the leader in the development, engineering, and designing of mobile draft equipment for breweries, entertainment and hospitality industries, brewing enthusiasts, and other aficionados. Aware of this, Coldbreak knew that its logo had aged and did not reflect its current reputation and vision.
Guided a client in orchestrating the conception, formation, and design of the Coldbreak identity. As we moved through the process, we distilled insights gathered from audience and stakeholder interviews, shaping the foundation of the brand. This foundation delineated the brand’s tone, defined the voice and visual direction of the brand. As we progressed, additional interviews, journey mapping, naming, brand architecture, iterative brand development, and brand guidelines were established, evolving into the final Become brand.
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+ Brand Strategy & Identity
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+ Team Leadership
+ Creative Direction
+ Qualitative & Quantitative Research
+ Project Management
+ User Interviews
+ Qualitative Research
+ Brand Messaging
+ Visual Identity
+ Brand Strategy
+ Concept Developement
+ Sketching & Ideation
+ Illustration
+ Vehicle Wrap -
After a decade of struggling to find our identity internally, we reached out to MKN Design. Michael quickly immersed himself in our company culture, history, and future goals to create the an accurate brand strategy and visual identity. To say we’re happy with the results is a huge understatement.
— Boyd Culver, CEO of Coldbreak -
View the preliminary concepts that where explored for Become.
Dark Side of the Moon
Creative Musing
November 2020
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Dark Side of the Moon
A modern take on Pick Floyd’s, Dark Side of the Moon album cover.
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Dark Side of the Moon tee is available for purchase on Cotton Bureau. Check out more graphic tees on my Cotton Bureau profile page.
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Note: All Cotton Bureau apparel comes in a variety of clothing types, styles, fits, sizes, materials, and colors.
Stayhome Friends
Creative Musing + Product
May 2020
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Stayhome Friends
Amidst the U.S. stay-at-home mandate, I crafted a series of playful illustrations, each carrying messages specifically designed for the stay-at-home orders. These illustrations served not only to entertain but also to reinforce the importance of staying home during this time.
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These Stayhome Friends posters are available in my shop. Explore more posters in my shop.
United & Vote
Creative Musing
November 2018
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United & Vote
“If we don’t vote, we are ignoring history and giving away the future.” This quote by Pat Mitchel reminds us of our obligation as U.S. citizens to vote for our future. Absorb these words, take action, register and head to the polls when you are called on each election day. Vote!
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Unite & Vote Poster is available for purchase in my shop. Unite & Vote Tee is available for purchase on Cotton Bureau.
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Note: All Cotton Bureau apparel comes in a variety of clothing types, styles, fits, sizes, materials, and colors.