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

Digital Readout
AM / FM Stereo Radio
with Clock

What else do you need?

More inspiration HERE.

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.

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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.

Life is short, travel more.

View some 80′s map details HERE.

Remembering the inspirational change brought by one to many.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African American civil rights movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. King is often presented as a heroic leader in the history of modern American liberalism.

A Baptist minister, King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, serving as its first president. King’s efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. There, he expanded American values to include the vision of a color blind society, and established his reputation as one of the greatest orators in American history.

In 1964, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other nonviolent means. By the time of his death in 1968, he had refocused his efforts on ending poverty and stopping the Vietnam War.

King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and Congressional Gold Medal in 2004; Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a U.S. federal holiday in 1986.

(text from wiki)

Canada vs. Montana
Insanely busy this week… Next week we plan on dishing out the can-mt venture.
A good weekend too all.

Cheers to a new year and many thanks for all the support. Lots of new and fun developments unfolding the first quarter of 2011 at The Medium Control. Stay tuned peoples…

Vintage Holiday Inn matchbook graphic above.

While the snow was piling up in MN the Humans were galavanting around NY. Well, they did work all day Sunday slinging goods at the BUST show. However, they managed to take a day off on Saturday to see the NY Christmas sights. Along with the other couple of million people walking around Time Square and the Rockefeller Tree. Of course after all that walking a few delicious meals were earned. Butternut Squash Pizza, Tuna Sliders, and Smoked Mac & Cheese just to name a few. Mini walk around Manhattan? Click HERE.

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Simple is good, and this new rack proves it true. We thought this post was meant to be after seeing our bucks hanging out together yesterday. Our good friends Greg and Jessica started a new company called “antler&co” based out of minneapolis & portland. Nature’s design has taken it’s perfect course and they have let pure elements become quite functional. Check out their new site antlerandco.com. All antlers are shed antlers and they have some facts to wrap your head around on the site as well. Clean up your floor and put your goods on a new antler this holiday. Check out details of their antlers HERE.

You might remember Greg from our Habitat Bathroom post, his amazing picture still stands tall. Good people, good ideas – support your local creative.

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The Humans and myself woke up to a couple of our friends in the yard, 8 and 6 point bucks. We usually see one at a time, but never do we see the boys hanging out together. Deer bachelor party at the Habitat?

Get in the deer’s face HERE.

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One of our favorite eras of design, one of our favorite prints, at one of our favorite museums.

At a recent estate sale we picked up this mint condition poster from the exhibition – De Stijl: 1917-1931, Visions of Utopia; at the Walker Art Center in 1982. Which has probably been in this frame ever since. The piece above the great Futura type is called: Counter-Composition V, 1924 – by Theo van Doesburg. Originally produced with oil on canvas and housed in the Stedelijk museum in Amsterdam.

In the early 1920′s a group of architects and artists formed a movement called De Stijl (Dutch for The Style). Theirs was a utopian philosophical approach to aesthetics, centered in a publication called De Stijl, which presented their ideas and designs. The founder of the publication and leader of the group was Theo van Doesburg, an architect. Other important participants were Gerrit Rietveld and Piet Mondrian.

Get close and personal with Dutch Style HERE.

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The Human’s Great Aunt Loretta was always full of great stories of her worldly travels. She was the go-to person for giving us the correct punctuation for Scandinavian foods and treats. And, of course, the right way to say Sauna; she was truly an inspiration. Unfortunately we lost Loretta this week, but her stories and adventurous attitude will live on forever. A while back, the Humans had a fun photo shoot in her basement capturing pristine vintage appliances and tools. Luckily the Humans had their good old Pentax camera loaded with expired film, which helped give a subtle green glow to everything. Explore the basement HERE.

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than exposure. – Helen Keller

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Giving thanks for the extra hour yesterday.

This little sun was found at an estate sale inside a small fishing reel box; shine on Loretta.

AS THE HALF MOON RISES
AND THE SKY TURNS PINK
LEAVES BEGIN TO STIR

CONSTANT PEDALING
NOT LOOKING BACK
MOVING FORWARD

FAST

NO MORE HEADACHE
NO MORE STRESS
ONLY THE FALL

Color, Color, and more Color. The Humans managed to make it up to Lutsen Mountain before all the leaves tumbled down. While they were out hiking around, I spent a very entertaining afternoon watching leaves fly by the window. Enter a vibrant weekend on the North Shore HERE.

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A few weeks past, the Humans planned a weekend backpacking trip up the North Shore to hike amongst the vibrant leaves. However, plans changed due to the heavy rain and other factors. Happily, they ended up staying at the wonderful little Croftville Road Cottages for an evening. About a half hour before sundown the Humans hiked in to Judge Magney State Park in time to catch a glimpse of Devil’s Kettle, quite halloweenish with the creeping darkness, foggy paths, and a waterfall that disappears into a pothole. Researchers have never been able to locate the output of water nor is there a satisfactory geological explanation for Devils’ Kettle.

On Saturday, the Humans hiked for hours at Cascade State Park up the Superior Hiking Trail. After some lucky coincidences they were able to wake up in a frosty tent the next morning at Lutsen Mountain. Enter a Weekend in the woods HERE.

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Ever find yourself biking down the road noticing the trees are dead calm, but it’s still very windy on the road? Elementary answers from our new ‘HOW AND WHY: Weather’ book discovered HERE.

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It’s hot in the Midwest today. Luckily Lake Superior acts as a giant air-conditioning unit for Humans and Animals alike. Enter the cool calm HERE.

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While spending time at the Cedar Lake Cabin the Humans found this vintage PIT game on the shelf. The vibrant orange bell and agricultural graphics clearly had to be photographed and shared. Enter the PIT, click HERE.

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Everyone have a swell 4th of July weekend.

A Minnesota Forester:
“I’ve lived in the woods all my life; I learned how to cut and peel popple as a kid, helping support the family. I knew the names of all the trees and many of the other plants, and where they grew. After high school I went to a very good forestry school, and when I graduated I still knew next to nothing about the forest. I knew nothing about what makes the forest tick; and I know damned little more now, but I’m learning some of the questions we’ll have to answer if we’re going to grow the timber we need. I knew that we can’t just keep cutting and shoving seedlings back in the ground, and expect to come back in thirty years and cut again. This forest is one of the most complicated things in the world. Every part of it affects every other part. We’ve got to find out what things affect the soil, and what the function of the different plants is, and the function of the birds and animals, and the ground water and surface water and the sun and the snow and what really happens after a burn . . .

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It has been an unusually rainy June and the yard is insanely green. I demanded that the Humans let me out (under their watchful eye) for my favorite treat, fresh grass – so good. Check out some serious grass mowing HERE.

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The Humans acquired more vintage camera bliss. Check out their new Kodak Instamatic 104 / Outfit and it’s amazing graphics HERE.

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Via Wiki :: Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. soldiers who died while in the military service. First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War (it is celebrated near the day of reunification after the Civil War), it was expanded after World War I to honor dead Americans from all wars.

Remembering and enjoying the beautiful weather.

India Ink + Watercolor on Birch plywood

Land of the extremes. We received word Minneapolis was going thru an abnormal heat wave, reaching tropical temps with insane humidity. Which brings on the comments “it’s too hot”. While it’s crazy to think only a few months ago we were experiencing a 100º difference. And at the same time people below the equator are having their fair share of winter. Makes you think and appreciate the multiple climates we live in – cherish the change.

This artwork was inspired by our Lutsen Chair Photo from the “Plastic Views” collection. The photo was taken on an extreme day at Lutsen, MN; lots of snow, lots of wind. This painting / drawing version of Lutsen Chair depicts the actual weather of the day. Sometimes 1/60 of a second does not capture the true ambience.

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The Humans recently picked up the full 1970′s Family Circle DIY Encyclopedia set. The books looked like they had been on the shelf together for many years. Probably never even opened because the inside still looked brand spankin’ new. The volumes contain not only good design but amazing modern ideas worth trying. More from these beauties later…

Details found HERE.

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The novice mushroom hunters found these little black morels. Please do not give the Humans too much credit for the hunt, because they found them growing in the backyard. Obviously not true hunters like myself. Nevertheless they were excited to stumble upon these little fungus soldiers. Click HERE to explore the morel.

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Projectors are for Humans, chasing lights on the wall is for critters. How does that spot get on the wall, and why do I have such a hard time catching it? The Humans are less intrigued by the lights spots, but did find the packaging on this little Episcopio Projector to be irresistible. Those vibrant colors and simple line graphics never fail to intrigue. Even the included light bulb had inspiring packaging. See the projected light, click HERE.

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