Like most of us, I spend my days on multiple devices, making calls and taking meetings, leaving little room for the basics like eating, breathing fresh air or giving back to the community that surrounds me. Taking a step back, I compiled a list of all the community and educational activities MK3 has been participating in over the past few years, and I was struck by our growth: from 4 events in 2022 to over 13 last year!

2023 found us on the production team for the Embrace Boston unveiling, enjoying a few music history lessons from Dr. Emmitt Price at Berklee School of Music, welcoming guest speakers on topics like antisemitism, Hispanic heritage, people with disabilities and improving diversity in the workplace. We volunteered our time on Thompson Island, taught presentation and sales skills at Junior Achievement organization and hosted students from the Fresh Films educational program to learn more about what we do at MK3. 

How did we do it?  First we made a plan, then we made it a priority and involved everyone on our team.  Basically, you have to make a commitment to breathe a little fresh air.  And it’s not about “fun time” out of the office, it’s about bringing your team together and opening up everyone’s perspective – exercising and strengthening your values and learning about yourself and others. 

Our goal for 2024?  Transition from education and learning to action and participation. To put it simply: show up and help. And we’re already off to a great start by serving lunch at the New England Center and Home for Veterans and planning events for Black History Month. There’s always more we can do, and we’re building out a 2024 plan with the hope that it brings us all closer together. Now if I can just get outside…

Life lessons by Alexandria Hunter-Whalen

Everything I know I learned in 4th grade. From Spider-Man. And Captain America, Batman, Iron Man, Superman, Green Lantern and the Hulk. Let me explain. I’m a creative director and I’ve been “directing creative” in one form or another for almost 40 years (not a misprint). And while I am not a designer and have had no design training, I have a love for directing design, with a specific focus on typography and logos. Over the years people have asked me where this comes from, and for most of my career, I didn’t have an answer. Like many things in life, it was just always…there. One of the few benefits of age (emphasis on few) are the occasional moments of clarity that allow you to connect a few dots and identify patterns in what always seemed like a long life of lucky breaks and random occurrences. And one such moment of clarity hit me a few years ago.

I was an avid comic book collector as a kid. Not just a reader, but an invested collector – appreciating the comics that appreciated in value, learning who buys them, how to save them and when to sell them. But most importantly, I just loved the comics themselves. You’d be surprised at how well some of them were written, often sending me scurrying for a dictionary or an adult.   

“Hey Dad, what does Armageddon mean?” 

I liked the stories and characters, but most of all, I loved the covers and their bold artwork and typography. Every hero not only has a name, but their own dynamic and dimensional logo! There’s usually a headline and subhead laid out with powerful type treatments. It’s all skillfully designed together with the cover art to create imagery and messaging that literally pops off the page. Every cover is a “promo” for the book itself, a marketing tool, depicting an over-the-top version of the actual plot within. And much like some TV promos or movie trailers, the cover is often better than the rest of the comic itself.  

Fast forward decades into my adulthood – I bought three poster-sized stretched canvas replicas of classic ‘70s comic covers and hung them in the new TV room. And one day while gazing at them, it hit me…POW! Look at those logos! BAM! Look at that typography! BOOM! Look at that artwork! This must be my inspiration! There has to be a connection!

For the first half of my career, I worked in broadcast promotion, making TV promos that were often better than the shows themselves. And for my entire career, I’ve been obsessed with typography and how to make text pop off the screen. Sound familiar? 

The power of the art and style of superhero comics from my childhood has always energized me, and now, apparently, inspired me as well. With great power comes great responsibility – the responsibility to use my design powers for good and not for evil. Just thinking about it gets my Spidey Sense tingling…how about yours?

Deep thoughts by Jonathan Markella

Images property of Marvel/Walt Disney Co. and DC/Warner Bros. Discovery