THE WATSONIAN

Sincere thanks to all clients + goods supporters !

medium control — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:02:57 +0000

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.

No Coast Show – Mpls Dec. 2-3

medium control — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 15:24:43 +0000

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

DAVID The Movie

medium control — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 19:35:33 +0000

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

Thanks to Beacon + Jon Baugh

medium control — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 23:23:56 +0000

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.

Marine Botany Book Cover

medium control — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 19:46:56 +0000

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.

Charitable Donation of the Month: Reef Relief

medium control — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 17:30:28 +0000

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

Academy Snowboards Cover Shot

medium control — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 19:22:12 +0000

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.

Charitable Donation of the Month: Austin Pets Alive !

medium control — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 19:12:22 +0000

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.

Broken Bow Bird

medium control — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 21:54:13 +0000

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.

The Medium Control is now on Facebook

medium control — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 17:17:03 +0000

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

http://facebook.com/mediumcontrol

Charitable Donation of the Month: The Wildcat Sanctuary

medium control — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 21:34:36 +0000

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.

Whitefish MT, Below Freezing

medium control — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 03:42:19 +0000

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.

Kayaking With A Dinosaur

medium control — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 02:19:42 +0000

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.

The Medium Control Retail Studio

medium control — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 20:40:22 +0000

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 !

Joplin Tornado Relief

medium control — Fri, 27 May 2011 23:18:30 +0000

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.

MN-TX = Renegade Austin

medium control — Fri, 20 May 2011 20:20:45 +0000

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.

Portlandia, Gas Guzzling Bitch

medium control — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 22:20:06 +0000

The Humans were out in Oregon for a couple days of work, play and catch-up with good friends. There was also good eats consumed at: Le Pigeon, Biwa, and Clyde Common. If you have not seen Portlandia, it’s a must watch; even our friends that live in Portland agree it’s not far off. We were lucky to see a “Portlandia” moment first hand. On a quiet sunday morning, near NW 23rd / Glisan, this went down:

- A big black Cadillac Escalade, driven by a middle aged clean cut woman, blocks the road trying to park.
- A Honda Hybrid, driven by two granola eating middle aged women, was stopped trying to get by the Escalade beast.
- The Honda sneaks thru and yells out “Move you gas guzzling Bitch!”
- Next the Cadillac retorts “Screw you Lady.”
- Swiftly the Honda sneaks thru and the two women laugh away.

That moment topped the trip, so good. View more Portland HERE.

Help Japan

medium control — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 22:20:07 +0000

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

This Is The Futura

medium control — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 03:42:21 +0000

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

1980 Road Atlas

medium control — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 00:35:50 +0000

Life is short, travel more.

View some 80′s map details HERE.

Darwin, A Documentary

medium control — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 23:11:03 +0000

We recently launched a new website for DARWIN – No Services Ahead, a documentary film by Nick Brandestini. The film is about a small town (pop. 35) located at the end of a weather road in Death Valley, California. The Medium Control was responsible for the web design and development for DARWIN. It was a great experience for us to work with the filmmakers, Nick and Vesna Brandestini, who are currently based in Zurich, Switzerland. As always, we were honored to work with independent filmmakers, but Darwin was an especially intriguing film. We were drawn in by the film’s theme which is harmoniously backed with beautifully minimal and raw imagery.

Darwin will have it’s world premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival:

Feb 2, 8:00 PM, Metro 4 Theatre IV
Feb 3, 8:05 AM, Metro 4 Theatre II
Feb 4, 4:00 PM, Santa Barbara Museum of Art

Check out the trailer and the DARWIN web design HERE.

Life In A Day, Live From Sundance

medium control — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 23:30:31 +0000

Boga Films (a new Medium Control client) were chosen as co-directors for the LIFE IN A DAY project, a historic cinematic experiment to document a single day on earth. Cristina Bocchialini and Ayman El Gazwy’s footage from Cairo was chosen from over 80,000 submissions and was found to be “some of the most compelling and brilliant.”

LIFE IN A DAY is a new film from Oscar-winning director Kevin Macdonald and Ridley Scott.

PREMIERING: Sundance Film Festival
DATE: January 27, 2011
STREAMING LIVE: 8P EST YouTube.com/lifeinaday

Check out Cristina and Ayam being interviewed at Sundance HERE.

Cristina Bocchialini and Ayman El Gazwy LIFE IN A DAY – Sundance interview.

Glacier National Park, MT

medium control — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 03:09:33 +0000

After Fernie, BC the Humans made it across the border into Montana. Their first stop of the day was West Glacier in Glacier National Park. They arrived mid-afternoon only a few hours before sunset. Luckily they had enough time to take a little cross-country ski trip to Fish Creek. The snow was flying and the sun was setting over Lake McDonald, a perfectly serene day in the woods. Explore Glacier National Park HERE.

Fernie, BC

medium control — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 03:00:31 +0000

Legendary Powder = Legendary Adventure. After 23 hours the Humans were glad to arrive at Fernie, British Columbia – nestled into the Canadian Rockies. The ski resort is located a few miles outside of town and another few miles up the mountain. Once the Humans ventured up the mountain to rest they didn’t have any reason to leave. Winter days were spent as they should be: rising to mountain views, playing in the snow, fireplaces / hot tubs, and then a few beers with chili.

A whole lot of flat until we hit the Canadian Rockies. Luckily for a couple hours the sun peaked out and we were able to see the roads. Beyond that we had "Ice Road Truckers" conditions the whole way, white knucklin' it. We see these huge windmill pieces shipped into the Duluth harbor all the time, this guy could be one of them.

Enjoy Fernie HERE.

Yakima Skybox 165 Winter Kit

medium control — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 03:31:00 +0000

Yakima SkyBox 16s first run:
5 academy snowboards
2 sets of xc skis
2 sets of snowshoes
2739 miles

The Yakima SkyBox was locked and loaded. As always, Yakima continues to impress us with a solid product that brings many trill rides to life (our loaded summer rig here). The Humans 2739 mile journey through some of the most treacherous winter road conditions was only made possible by Yakima + the little SX4. Let’s take a minute to relive the adventure: rain, ice, snow, blowing snow, ZERO visibility and road-blocking drifts. Not to mention – mountains in the dark with gale force winds; mountains in the daylight during a blizzard… not much better. Through it all the SkyBox stood tall and the SX4 kept us warm and moving forward. View the sturdy box HERE.

Yakima and Suzuki teaming up for the Kodak moment.

Standing tall in Fernie, BC.

Branded

A lot of trust was put into this box during insane winds and temps that made Minnesotans cold.

Rest well, big days ahead.

On the other seasonal approach to fun, the summer kit found here.

Remember. Martin Luther King, Jr

medium control — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 18:39:58 +0000

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 Shoots Montana

medium control — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 05:26:09 +0000

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

TRAVEL. FERNIE – WHITEFISH VENTURE

medium control — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 02:00:46 +0000

Canada + Montana
They already had to go back for new adventures: many good tales and pictures to come.

HOLIDAY. A NEW WEEK, A NEW YEAR

medium control — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 05:39:19 +0000

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.

TRAVEL. NEW YORK CITY

medium control — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 23:50:22 +0000

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.

Upper East Side, love thy neighbor as thy self.

Our best meal of the trip resided at "Mary's Fish Camp." Yellowfin Tuna Sliders displayed here, so good.

Poster from the "3 Guys Restaurant."

Central Park work break.

Da Vinci Apple.

City of lights gets brighter and brighter on each visit.

Charming Charmin.

Light and sculpture, good night.