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

http://facebook.com/mediumcontrol

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.

Japan needs our help.

As stated above, for every order placed in March, The Medium Control will donate $1 to the Red Cross Japan Relief.

This effort applies to both of our stores listed below.

Medium Control Goods:
http://goods.mediumcontrol.com

Medium Control on Etsy:
http://etsy.com/shop/mediumcontrol

Futura, one of our favorite typefaces – standing the test of time since 1927. We released our new design “FUTURA, 1927″ this past fall. Since then we have been outfiting good people with FUTURA bags, hoodies and prints.

The other day our friend Jeff, from Ocupop, mentioned one of our bags was randomly posted on Draplin.com, posted one day and linked the next – much appreciated. We were at Draplin’s “Thanks MPLS” show and picked up his amazing Everything and Minnesota prints. PS. if you don’t know Draplin you have to check out his great video. Small world, good type.

Check out some of our “FUTURA, 1927″ goods HERE.

Our shop: goods.mediumcontrol.com

Medium Control Goods will be at the BUST Magazine Craftacular this Sunday in NYC. Stop by and get that holiday shopping wrapped up if you are in the area.

WHAT
BUST MAGAZINE
HOLIDAY 2010 CRAFTACULAR

WHEN
December 12, 10a – 8p

WHERE
Metropolitan Pavilion
125 West 18th St
New York, NY 10011

WEBSITE
http://bust.com

DETAILS
Come early and score one of 500+ free goodie bags. Stay late and enjoy
raffle prizes, special guests, DIY demos, DJs, dancing, tasty drinks, and
delicious treats!

Meet best-selling author and comedian Amy Sedaris and pick up a signed
copy of her new book!

The Fall chill seems to be here for good, which reminds us of a nice warm time in Chicago. This past September the Humans spent two action packed days slinging Goods at the Renegade Chicago show. Big thanks to the Renegade folks, family for helping with the booth setup, and to all who stopped by the booth – much appreciated.

Show pictures viewable HERE.

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Greetings. Yours truly is honored to be sponsoring a couple back to school giveaways on two critter friendly blogs, Pawesome and Modern Cat. They are both great sites, be sure to check them out and sign up to win some free Medium Control Goods.

The Walker Field Day went off. Big thanks to the Walker for inviting us and to all who stopped by – much appreciated.

Show pictures viewable HERE.

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Medium Control Goods has been invited to the Walker Art Center to take part in their Field Day Event.
Stop by tomorrow (Thursday), pick up some goods and check out all the events.

WALKER OPEN FIELD
Thursday August 19th
2-9p FREE

walkerart.org
mnartists.org/fieldday

Medium Control Goods hit the road this past weekend. We have been noticeably absent from our daily ranting due to the churning wheels of production. The Humans were busy designing and building a 6×8′ booth that would display all their new bags, metal prints and t-shirts. After a long week of late evenings I sent the Humans packing so I could get some rest while they headed out to sell some goods. They told me the show (thetalentshowmn.com) held at the rau+barber studio was a great experience and everyone was excited to see all the new Watson goods (of course). Thanks to all who ventured out to the show – we appreciate it. Enter the booth HERE.

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The Humans designed another version of one of my many great looks: the Sleepy Watson. Next, they decided to put my sleepy face onto their wood coasters and bags. They also added a few more new designs to their coaster line-up, including their iconic camera and bauhaus shapes designs. My coasters are featured over on Modern Cat this week so be sure to swing over and sign up to win a set. Coasters in detail, click HERE.

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Even more from PLASTIC VIEWS. Here are the color lomography images currently on display from the Humans art show. Each image is printed on white enamel sheet metal, float mounted, and ready to hang on your wall. Enjoy some color lomography up close by clicking HERE.

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More from PLASTIC VIEWS. As mentioned previously, the Humans currently have an art show on display the entire month of March at Pizza Luce in Duluth, Minnesota. For those we may not be able to attend in person the Humans wanted to share some images from the show. Here are the black and white lomography images currently on display. Each image is printed on brushed sheet metal, float mounted, and ready to hang on your wall. Printing on metal is an interesting alternative to paper. Metal prints are can be hung without frame or glass for a less traditional approach to displaying photography. Enjoy some black and white HERE.

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Since the beginning, the Human’s focus for Medium Control’s streetwear has been centered on the snow, skate, and surf industry. Although, they continue to create and be inspired from many other influences (myself included)… the snow keeps calling to them. Hence, the recent release of their Lift t-shirt. Lift drawing was inspired by the Gandy Chair at Spirit Mountain. Come around by clicking HERE.

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Year One. We want to say a big thanks to everyone for all the support this year. Year One of the Watsonian was a humble beginning but we are glad everyone seems to be enjoying it. The ramblings shall continue and Year Two promises to be a grand adventure. We are actually heading into Year Nine for our Medium Control Goods, crazy. Stay tuned because we have a ton of new goods floating about in our heads and ready to get into production. We hope everyone is enjoying all The Medium Control Goods we shipped out this season – thanks again, we appreciate it.

The Humans obsession with photography has a tendency to bleed over into their tshirt designs. The Humans named this one “RECORD” and designed it as a means of drawing upon the similarities between bullets vs. film. Some believe both may have the ability to capture ones soul. Think my friends, I do it on a semi-regulary basis. Both garments available on our STORE. To see more record shots, click HERE.

peace and preservation

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The Humans have been spending time in the workshop again… They seem to think making stuff is fun. Whew, I am glad I don’t have to work that hard. They have been cutting and sanding scrap cedar blocks and parallam to make fancy wood coasters (The leftover cedar is recycled from a new building project: The Spaceship, coming soon). Once the wood is nice and smooth, they flock the blocks with their original Eames designs and The Medium Control Explorer logo. Of course they also put my face on a set of their wood coasters, all available at our STORE. Coast on and see the wood details HERE.

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Look at what the Humans did to my iconic face…what the cuss (side note: have you seen the new Fantastic Mr. Fox movie – you cussing should). Off the point with all the cussing movie talk… Here is my crazy, psychedelic, hypnotic face screen printed on the new limited-edition watson bomb tshirts and turtlenecks. Lining up my graphically correct face three times creates a bomb shape, with my third eye keeping a watch over you. Cussing get one soon, all the fantastic critters have one. See the new shirts HERE.

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The Humans told me that nothing can quite top the fly fishing process: waking up at sunrise, venturing up the North Shore, hiking down into a river and silently fly casting out. One on one with nature, no ipod, only the river rushing by. The Humans released their redesigned fly tshirt today which has them feeling a bit nostalgic because fly was the medium control’s first tshirt design. So what changed? They made the artwork larger, redefined and added some new elements. New or old it makes us feel content and peaceful. Check out our FLY2 on orange tshirts and brown long sleeves, click HERE.

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The snow is on its way. The Humans have unpacked their snow gear, lined up their boards, and secured the habitat hatches – winter, bring it on. My snow gear is built-in thick fur, but I prefer to stay sprawled out in front of the window for the next few months. After many years being transported hillside, the chairlift became a great friend to the Humans winter fun. Hence, they created their Transit design based on this visually correct utility. The design was inspired by a chairlift photograph, shot at Copper Mountain, CO during a Academy Snowboards photo shoot. The lift and two of the lift lines were screen printed and an additional line was stitched with thread to add a textural element to the one-dimensional design. To view the chairlift / transit design + t-shirts and other garments, click HERE.

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Business as usual. This Belgian candy shop did not let a little a broken window get in the way of their daily sugar high. The Humans shot this picture down a side street in Brussels, Belgium at 4:00 p.m, 35mm film, 1600 iso. The Humans love to travel, something that usually leads to a good part of their design inspiration, as exampled here. The Brussels tshirt design was inspired by their shattered window photograph. Linear graphics were added to the design to mimic the many train routes traveled throughout Europe. And a tshirt is born. To view the tshirt + window click HERE.

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Guess what the Humans have been doing lately, besides annoying me with their daily attempts to show me affection – Ugh. They have been busily working on making orange and green Watson the Cat turtlenecks. Word is the turtleneck is soft, comfy, and perfect for the impending arctic air. Plus it comes with my mug – what could be better than that? Check out the new goods below and above all, stay warm my friends.

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That’s right friends our classic Grass design is back by popular demand. The Humans have been busy flocking our Grass design onto canvas tote bags (better than plastic / BYOB), tshirts, and long sleeves. The Humans are rather excited about their flock, it is that sweet fuzzy graphic that is usually spotted on tshirts from the 1970′s. The Humans have wanted to flock the Grass design since way back in the day. Ugh, I have enough of my own fuzzy fur but I guess I can understand wanting something soft and fuzzy… especially if I was cold and pale like a Human. Check out the new goods and get fuzzy my friends.

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As a couple of you may have noticed fall is approaching and the evening temperatures are dropping. Due to my thick double coat this is not a problem whatsoever. However, the Humans are wimps and they feel the need to wear layers upon layers. These Zip Joggers must be decent since Tommy lives in his. He is like frickin’ Mister Rogers – one for inside and for outside. All in all they do the trick I guess, if you need to button up for the weather. The chairlift graphic was screen printed, then the Humans stitched an additional line parallel w/ the lift line. Part of the new goods now available in our store. Check out the brown version below, stay warm wimps.

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I personally don’t have much use for a hoodie (except i am thinking it would make a nice bed, hmm….) The humans have designed a new hoodie to support their never ending rant about alternative energy sources. The wind hoodie is designed with a power-lines abstraction on the front and a multi-transformer graphic on the back. Yay, for wind power but with my big eyes I run and hide every time I see the trees a swaying. Check out more wind hoodie images below and find out what that small print on the back graphic actually says.

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Canvas pocket bag -- watson the cat -- black

Dundundun… as previously announced without my permission the humans used my mug icon as the graphic on their new tote bags. However, I must still encourage you to purchase my lovely little bags because my treat portions always tend to increase after every sale – so it is tough to complain (but I manage). One extra plus – my mug on the bags is a velvet soft flock design – pretty sweet… even though it is trademark infringement of my face. Anyway, the humans seem excited to display their hard work so check them out …

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New Decals – the wheels of production have started spinning and rumor has it that my dinner portions will increase if I can move these decals off the shelf. For the love of god, please buy my face and save my stomach. Put it on your wall, your laptop, car or even your window (to scare away the birdies – hee heee). Check out the new decals available here in 4″, 3″ and 2″. Check out the decal production process below.

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