021: MIK Museletter

We’re back with another edition of The MIK Museletter, a must-read for industry insights and creative inspiration.

Top Of Mind

Hold on to your flower crowns people because Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is back! A cornerstone of the cultural zeitgeist, it’s known for hosting some of the world's largest musical acts and signifying the start of the North American festival season.?

But forget the celebrity sightings and hoards of micro-influencers – we’re here for the billboards.

That's right, the infamous billboards en route to the festival have become an annual ritual, allowing artists and brands a chance to excite attendees before their arrival, and this year was no different. However, it was the unlikely entry from Coachella Valley locals, Lift To Rise , that caught our attention.

Just off of Interstate 10, the not-for-profit seized the opportunity to highlight historically underpaid workers by shining a light on the “real stars” of Coachella ahead of the festival. The billboards riffed off of festival headliner Tyler, the Creator in a great display of highly reactive and topical advertising.

What’s Got Us Talking - Canvas Acquires Affinity

‘Empowering the world to Design.’ Canva’s motto seems to make it sound all so simple, as does its oh-so-cute-and-trendy social templates and super easy presentation slides fit for everyone…?

Yuck.

But it seems Canva is aware of its potentially unfavourable position in the market as a serious design offering for serious creatives, and so the news that the Australian outfit is picking up UK-based Serif, the company behind Affinity, and its entire 90-person team, signals that they’re readying themselves to jump into the ring with Adobe.

Along with their Graphic Design desktop app, they’re also getting access to their photo and publisher applications, so it’s not just Photoshop that should be warming up for a rumble…?

Official figures for the deal have not been revealed, but Bloomberg reports that it’s valued at “several hundred million [British] pounds.” According to Canva, Affinity apps are used by three million global users, which is a mere fraction of Adobe’s user base. However, Affinity’s current decision to make it accessible via a one-off payment rather than an ongoing subscription model might give it somewhat of an upper hand.?

So will Canva be able to shoulder its way into designing with the big boys? Or will it maintain its glorified Google-Slides status? We’ll just have to wait and see…?

Spotlight On MIK

This week we sat down with MIK Senior Designer & Art Director, Brigitte Greene.

1. Who are your biggest inspirations right now?

I take inspiration from all over the place! Film, travel, music, books. I think no matter the medium, any good creative can be inspiring.

2. What’s a design rule that more people should be breaking?

It depends on what you are creating! Some rules are there because without them it’s just not design. If you’re designing a website, for example, you want to make sure it’s accessible and usable, or if you’re working with brands with specific guidelines, it’s important to follow those. On the other hand, sometimes rules stifle creativity, so sometimes it helps me to work backwards and start with no rules.

3. What’s your proudest moment at MIK?

I’m proud of a lot of things we do at MIK! We get to work with so many different people across different industries. I love working on concepts and art for music and podcasts, so I love that I’ve got to work on so many of those from the ground up, and watching those get released and become something people love is awesome.

4. What’s got you excited about 2024?

We’ve been working hard on the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards voting platform for 2024 which is a pretty large project, I’m excited to see that launch. There are also some internal projects that have been getting off the ground which I’m excited to see grow, so keep your eyes peeled!

MIK is a creative studio providing 360° digital services. Based in Australia, working worldwide.

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