Big Thanks to KUMD for inviting Tommy in to talk about The Medium Control on Radio Gallery. The segment aired last week but you can still listen to the interview here:

http://kumd.org

We are honored to be part of the Reportero Project (site design); a film about the truths and dangers in Mexican Journalism. The film is premiering tonight 1/7/2013 on PBS.

Check for your local listing here:
pbs.org/pov/reportero/

Reportero Website:
reporteroproject.com

If you haven’t already heard the BIG Medium Control news, then please Watch our Indiegogo Campaign super-8 video.

Click Here to Watch:
http://indiegogo.com/mediumcontrol

A HUGE Thanks to everyone who has already contributed. We are at 93% with only 4 days left ! THANK YOU !!

Feel free to share the link to whoever you think might be interested or that might just get a kick out of the video – cheers !

New Medium Control Website Design + Development Project
woodsport.net

Woodsport is an independent woodcraft studio based in the Twin Cities. Mixing traditional techniques with an experimental approach, Woodsport creates original, heirloom quality furniture and accessory pieces for residential, corporate, and institutional clients.

Woodsport is one of our original clients who we still proudly work with today. Scott continues to impress, creating classic, yet modern furniture that will last the test of time in aesthetic and quality. We are fortunate to have a couple of his handcrafted pieces which we use daily. The new site was a collaboration effort between scott and myself to create a visual impact where you can see the fine work in detail. We also wanted to create a well designed site that was easy to navigate and accessible on all devices.

Minnesota Peoples
Scott is opening up his Woodsport studio this weekend.
Open Studio Sale
Friday 14 December 6p–10p
Saturday 15 December 10a–5p
wine coffee cash/cards & carry

558 Vandalia Street
Saint Paul MN 55114–1949
southwest dock door to main floor

woodsport.net

Stay up to date with his work + production on the Woodsport Facebook:
facebook.com/woodsportfurniture

New Medium Control Design Project:
Reportero, a documentary film.
We had the great fortune to work with director Bernardo Ruiz, to design + develop a website for his new film Reportero (also our first bilingual site!). Not only is the film shot and edited perfectly, the story is definitely an eye opening documentary about the heroic efforts journalist put forth to shed light on the truth in Mexico. Check out the website design and more about Reportero: reporteroproject.com

Reportero: “In Mexico, investigative journalism can be a life-threatening profession. In Reportero, a veteran reporter and his colleagues at an independent newsweekly defy powerful drug cartels and corrupt officials to continue reporting the news.”

Twin Cities Film Festival
Reportero Screening
Friday, October 19, 2012 at 1:50p
twincitiesfilmfest.org

Future Screenings of Reportero
reporteroproject.com/screenings.php

Television Premiere
POV (PBS) BROADCAST
January 7th, 2013
pbs.org/pov/reportero

Watch the Trailer Here: Read the rest of this entry »

New Dealer: Clawhammer Letterpress & Gallery
Locale: Fernie, BC
Visit: http://clawhammer.ca

Stoked to have Medium Control screen + letterpress prints now available at Clawhammer. Excited for two main reasons:

01. Clawhammer produces their own line of amazing work; letterpress handset type + registration guru’s.
02. Located in FERNIE, BC – land of amazing mountains + snow.

Learn more about Clawhammer here: http://clawhammer.ca
Plan a trip to Fernie here: http://www.skifernie.com

No doubt we will need to personally visit Clawhammer mid-winter…
Check out our last visit to Fernie:
http://mediumcontrol.com/blog/travel-fernie-bc/

The Medium Control survived the flooding. However, some of our fellow Duluthians were not as lucky. Your help is greatly appreciated – several charities are taking donations for flood victims.

Salvation Army
Text BUCKET to 80888 to make a $10 donation toward purchasing a cleaning bucket cleaning kit designed for flood victims to be used in the Duluth area.

Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota
Go to lssmn.org/disaster

Red Cross
redcrossmn.org or (800) 733-2767. Donors also can text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

Duluth Locals
Community Cleanup of Chester Bowl Park
Monday 6/25/2012 7p-8:30p
Details: HERE

We thank you on behalf of our great city, Duluth !

Great city, great show. We drove 21+ hours to sling goods at the Renegade Austin Show on May 19-20, 2012. It was worth the drive, sunshine, amazing food and great people. Thanks Austin + Renegade !

Check out our booth HERE.

KIDS! Check out the new Small Control goods:

goods.mediumcontrol.com

Join us for the Opening reception of Rent MONEY art show at Zeitgeist Arts lobby from 5-8p tonight April 30!

Our Drop the Needle print was chosen to be a part of the Homegrown Music Festival art show on display from April 29th – May 6th 2012 in the Zinema 2 theater lobby in Duluth, MN. If you are new to the Homegrown Music Festival, it is Duluth’s annual showcase of local music and art. It features about 150 musical acts, along with a few filmmakers and other artists — and a bunch of beer. Get out and enjoy it!

View the Homegrown schedule here:
duluthhomegrown.com

HELLO KIDS! You asked, we answered – We are excited to announce that The Small Control will be hitting our store shelves soon. Small Control is our new line of modern goods for kids! That’s right little Drop the Needle, Watson, Fly Fishing tees + more will be available shortly – stay tuned.

We are beyond excited to be featured on Fab.com. Check out our goods and get a great deal*:

http://fab.com

*Our Fab sale ran for 3 days (4/10/12 – 4/13/12)

Digital Readout
AM / FM Stereo Radio
with Clock

What else do you need?

More inspiration HERE.

Dallas, TX = We Are 1976. The We Are 1976 store’s goal is to put usable, livable, wearable, readable, lovable, enjoyable, affordable design into the hands of everyone who desires it. We completely agree and are excited to announce that Medium Control is now available at We Are 1976!

2011 proved to be one of the most rewarding years for The Medium Control. Client work was stacked full of new and inspirational projects; along with meeting a grip of new great people. On the Goods side of things we have never shipped so much in our 10 year span and we can’t thank all of you good people enough for that. Opening our first retail shop and working studio has been very exciting for us. Finally a space to showcase and sell our Goods; with a new work space for all of our equipment to boot.

Heartfelt thanks to everyone who has explored The Medium Control – we are having so much fun and can’t wait to keep pounding out new idears in 2012.

Many good things to come.

We are excited to part of the No Coast show this weekend

The No Coast Craft-o-Rama is a craft event that began in December 2005 as a way to feature a variety of designers, artists, crafters and other talented creators of unique handmade goods. It’s coming up in 2011 on Friday, December 2 (3 p.m. to 8 p.m.) and Saturday, December 3 (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) at the Midtown Global Exchange building. Be sure to come by and see some of the finest artisans and crafters around.

When
December 2nd + 3rd 2011
Friday: 3-8p
Saturday: 9-5p

Where
Midtown Global Market
Minneapolis Minnesota

Visit
http://nocoastcraft.com

Swing by The Medium Control booth
E-32

We are proud to announce our first feature film website project, DAVID. Early this fall we started to work with Stephanie (executive producer) and Joel (writer/producer/co-director) on this great project. We were initially amazed by the well put together trailer; after viewing the film – very greatful to be part of this powerful project. A harmonious blend of image, score and story, the film questions the boundaries of our cultures and religions, and looks at how static and yet fluid these boundaries can be. DAVID has gone on to win numerous awards and rave reviews. Check out the website design HERE.

View the DAVID website
david-themovie.com

Join DAVID’s ever-growing facebook page
facebook.com/davidthemovie

It’s that time of year again to get the boards shined up; always around the big feast day. Thankful for many things this year but a special shout out to Jon Baugh. While growing up snowboarding in the midwest Jon’s company, Beacon, was a Minneapolis superstar company selling worldwide. Solid design, color, bit of humor and lots of wit. An all-around amazing company with creative freedom. Seeing this company grow from leashes and stickers to a full line of outwear, was a big inspiration for starting The Medium Control. Around 10 years ago, Jon also helped jump start our company. We were fortunate to collaborate with him on some projects, which lead to our first few graphic design clients. Clients we are proud to still be working with all these years later.

So this Thanksgiving a big thanks to mister Realgood, Jon Baugh – cheers man.

In relation, to our last Key West Reef Relief post, we thought a inspirational post was in order. One of our favorite book covers from our stash. Solid graphic, great typography and color. This is one of Kevin’s text books from school in the 70′s.

Check out more pictures of the book and Kevin’s unique handwriting here.

Read the rest of this entry »

You may be curious why a couple of Minnesotans feel a duty to help protect the coral reef. Well, Tommy’s dad spent his younger years attending school in Key West, FL studying marine biology. His love of the ocean and snorkeling was passed on to the Humans.

This month we will be making a $1.00 donation for every sale to Reef Relief in Key West, FL. Reef Relief is a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to improving and protecting our coral reef ecosystem.

Learn more about Reef Relief, or make a donation on your own:
REEF RELIEF
reefrelief.org

As always, we thank you and the ocean critters thank you for shopping with us. Cheers

It’s that time of year again, when leaves turn to the spectrum of crayon colors. Last year we were up at Lutsen, Mn checking out the best leave show on the North Shore. While there we snapped the cover shot of this years Academy Snowboards’ Catalog and Joel Vandruff from Academy designed it up.

We have a few Academy catalogs left, swing on in to our new Medium Control Studio to pick-up your copy. Then get on over to Youth Shelter, Damage or Cal Surf and get your new ride.

The season is creeping up soon, get on it.

We had a wonderful time in Austin, TX this past spring so when we heard about the wildfires we decided it was time to help. This month we will be making a $1.00 donation for every sale to Austin Pets Alive in Austin, TX. They are a no-kill rescue program, focused on saving animals who have already been passed over by other groups and the shelter’s adoption programs. Their mission is to promote and provide resources, education and programs needed to eliminate the killing of companion animals.

They are workign hard to help move the city of Austin towards becoming a no-kill city. Learn more about Pets Alive, or make a donation on your own:

AUSTIN PETS ALIVE!
Austin, TX
austinpetsalive.org

As always, we thank you and the critters thank you for shopping with us. Thanks to everyone who sent in emails and facebook comments for future donations ideas – cheers.

Insanely busy, too busy too type. But thought we would share the best thing we witnessed on our Austin trip. On our way home we stopped at Broken Bow Lake in Oklahoma, stumbling upon this amazing bird logo.

We are now up and rocking on Facebook.
Drink the kool-aid and join the cult:

http://facebook.com/mediumcontrol

Not only do we love designing and printing… but we also love critters – cats, dogs and everything in between. That is why we are happy to give back for every sale. Our donation for the month of July went to Animal Allies in Duluth. Thanks to your love of our Goods we raised a good chunk of cash for the Duluth critters.

This month we will be making a $1.00 donation for every sale to The Wildcat Sanctuary in Sandstone, MN. The Wildcat Sanctuary (TWS) is a no-kill rescue facility for wild cats. As a true sanctuary, they do not buy, breed, sell or exhibit animals. They combine natural and spacious habitats with a life free of exhibition and exploitation. TWS allows all residents to live wild at heart. TWS advocates for No More Wild Pets in order to create a world where animal sanctuaries are no longer needed. Learn more about TWS, or make a donation on your own:

THE WILDCAT SANCTUARY
Sandstone, Mn
wildcatsanctuary.org

As always, we thank you and the critters thank you for shopping with us.

It’s surreal to believe a few months ago it was practically 100º cooler. In January, right after their Fernie stop, the Humans were taking daily deep turns in Whitefish, Montana. The resort had more snow than they knew what to do with and barely any people; a match made in heaven. We might be having some warm temps right now, but we are sure glad this does not last all year long and we will be able to take some turns and cool off before we know it. Pros and cons to everything.

Chill out and check out some winter wonderland HERE.

Like any normal Sunday, the Humans found a Dinosaur. However, there was some paddling involved. The kayak/canoe ventured began on Lake Calhoun thru Lake of the Isles into Cedar Lake and finally making the halfway point at Brownie Lake (view route here). After finding a large native creature, wrestling it and documenting history, they headed back. To catch their breath a break was had on Hidden Beach. Prehistoric stuff. Check out the story HERE.

Read the rest of this entry »

A long time concept and dream fell into place today June 10th 2011. We opened our first Medium Control Retail Studio. A retail shop for our hand printed apparel, posters, bags, metal prints and select art/design book & mags. We are often asked “what do you do again?” and there is not one answer. However this new space will help explain the scope and depth of our work and projects. Along with the retail Goods, there are also select client projects (Academy and Bald E-Gal snowboard designs), vintage cameras on display; along with one of our screen printing presses that we use for making the posters. We pulled the trigger on this retail project one month ago, and it has exercised many aspects of design, building, production of Goods and maintaining a heavy client work load. It has been a true test, but after ten years we were ready for it and are quite excited to finally put a face behind the brand. And mostly, to have our friends, family and new peoples to stop in, say hi and check out what a month of chaos can drum up.

AN ENORMOUS THANKS FOR ALL THE SUPPORT OVER THE YEARS MAKING THIS PROJECT COME TO LIFE.

Store Location
The Medium Control
723 South Lake Ave
Duluth Mn 55802

Store Hours*
T-F 11a – 5p
Sat 11a – 4p
Sun (occasionally open)

*Hours may vary if
We have the need to surf, skate, bike or kayak.

Station on Park Point, just on the other side of the lift bridge. You can practically see the shop from Grandmas in Canal Park

Next week we will be showing some studio pictures and launching our new Medium Control website.

CHEERS !

The Humans recently arrived home from their Texas road trip. On the way back they made a point to stop in Joplin, MO to see first hand what an EF5 tornado looks like. It was an unbelievably sad sight to experience. While, the Humans wish they could do more than just donate cash, at least it is something. That is why we decided to make a $1.00 donation for every order placed now thru the end of June to the Joplin Humane Society. We can only imagine what both the Humans and the critters are dealing with so hopefully we can help make a small difference.

Or make a donation directly to the Joplin Red Cross HERE.

Controlled chaos is an understatement. The Humans have been busier than ever. Many new fun Medium Control ventures in the works that are deploying this month. Currently they are in transit to Austin for the Renegade show. Tomorrow we’ll post a couple shots of the booth and some sneak peaks at some of the new designs and products.

Know any Texas or Austin heads – send them over. We will be slinging goods all Saturday and Sunday. Cheers and hopefully a couple beers.