akko

Akko is a multidisciplinary design group that ensures you get the most out of your interactions with your audience.

[studioakko]

Brand Identity: "Artifacts" Salon

Artifacts is a quarterly event series that brings groundbreaking creators of vastly different disciplines into conversation with each other. Artifacts was conceived by the boutique NY-based digital design agency Studio Akko as a way to disrupt industry silos by mashing up designers, artists, technologists and entrepreneurs and create a salon-style event that is intimate and performative; where presenters can be personal, playful and earnest and audiences can engage in hands-on creative experiments and meet people that don't do what they do.

"The brand identity references images of biological taxonomy, scientific illustrations, and numeric tags, alluding to the tools we use to attempt to categorize the complexity of what we see and experience. We use that same visual language at our events to blow up those categories, encourage cross-pollination and spawn new connections. For example, each event ticket has a half of an image related to the content being presented, and by completing the imagery with another pair of tickets, we let the pair grab a free drink on us. The message: collaborate outside your world and good things happen."

For more information about Artifacts, visit the Artifacts website.

[studioakko]

9 moments from @Independent_NY we also love. See you next year, #armoryweek!

[studioakko]

10 moments from the last day of #armoryweek at the Park Ave Armory that we love /cc @parkavearmory

[studioakko]

Artifacts Returns On June 26th!

Artifacts is a salon taking place on June 26th, from 7-10 pm at Norwood, a quirky and intimate private Chelsea townhouse. Featuring rapid-fire visual morsels of inspiration by New York City’s finest artists, creatives and technologists that don’t quite fit the mold, you’re guaranteed to meet someone that doesn’t do what you do. Come grab a complimentary cocktail or learn how to make your own with a hands-on demo from acclaimed mixologist Brian Quinn. Expect tasty treats, live music, and more than a few surprises.

You must buy tickets in advance. They will not be available at the door, and they’re selling out quickly! Get yours here.

[studioakko]

Inaugural Artifacts Events: Sold Out!

Artifacts is a unique combination of creative salon and short-form presentation created by Akko. Our curators and presenters include boundary-pushing creators from art, design, photography, fashion, technology and more. The evening provides 100 attendees with the opportunity to engage with people across a variety of disciplines at Norwood, NYC’s esteemed members-only social club frequented by artists and thought leaders.

Check out who’s presenting here: http://akko.co/artifacts

Get in touch to be notified about future Artifacts iterations. Hint: the next one will coincide with NYC Internet Week at the end of May 2013.

[studioakko]

Akko's Brand Update

To commemorate our 2 year anniversary, we thought it would be a great opportunity to evolve our own identity, beginning with a refresh of our business cards.

Akko (pronounced “ah-koh”) was named after a coastal Mediterranean town. Because of its strategic location, the city’s character and aesthetic, from architecture to art to language, has been influenced by the cultures that have left their mark over the centuries. We’ve often aligned ourselves with a similar approach to our practice – considering context, people, and zeitgeist and evolving our own practices as the world around us changes, rather than having a rigid perspective or process.

We wanted to embrace the nautical maps of the coastlines and the surrounding topography associated with the region around Akko. The dotted, organic lines represent the organic chaos of an idea at its genesis, while the numbered grid represents an attempt to create order and direction through carefully designed experiences.

The sea foam and rust colors hint to the sea blue of the Mediterranean Sea and the terra cotta found in Akko. We used UV spotting on the white dashed lines and logo so they give a surprising ocean-like shimmer when viewed at certain angles, also giving a tactile experience in hand.

When the front and back of the card are lined up, the grid and coastal lines continue from the front to back, never breaking the order of the grid or the flow of the lines.

[studioakko]

In-House Project BKIN Takes Home A 2012 UX Award

BKIN is honored to have a made the cut with an Honorable Mention for the BKIN Wayfinding System, an internal project that is currently moving from concept to development. Check out some of the award winners that we shared a stage with and sign up to our BKIN Announcements if you’d like to keep tabs on how the project is progressing.

The UX 2012 Award Winners: http://userexperienceawards.com/2012-winners/

[studioakko]

IW2012 Panel: Akko, GroupMe, Etsy & Stamped

Ron Goldin from Studio Akko shared a stage with product leaders from 3 New York based startups during NYC’s Internet Week to talk about how great design happens amidst the chaos of startup culture.

Design & the Mobile Startup: NYC Edition, got chosen as one of 7 out of 250+ submissions for Internet Week 2012′s “Make The Stage” and features words of wisdom from Leland Rechis, head of Product at Etsy, Steve Martocci, co-founder of GroupMe, and Bart Stein, co-founder of Stamped. The 40 minute panel touches upon design vision, roles & process, branding, getting user feedback and the nuances of mobile design with an emphasis on the social aspects of creating a product in the context of New York City.

Check out the stream: http://new.livestream.com/iwny/wednesdaystage2

Also check out the stream of the SXSW Edition featuring Foursquare, Foodspotting and Instagram: http://www.studioakko.com/design-and-the-mobile-startup/

[studioakko]

"What's Your Met?" Campaign

Akko’s MyMet Video has been included in The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new “What’s Your Met?” campaign along with celebrity participation by Zaha Hadid, Alicia Keyes, Marc Jacobs, Claire Danes, Seth Meyers, Jeff Koons and more. The campaign goal is to encourage people to create social engagement and community around the museum using the new MyMet service. From the Met’s Website: “We’re inviting you to share favorite works of art using the MyMet feature on this website or any form of social media. Tell us which objects intrigue and excite you, and see the works other visitors have chosen.”

[studioakko]

SXSW Video: Design And The Mobile Startup

On March 11th 2012 at SXSW,  Studio Akko founder Ron Goldin coordinated and led a panel discussion with several influential leaders from successful start-ups.

The panel included Foursquare’s Head of Product Alex Rainert, Foodspotting co-founder/CEO Alexa Andrzejewski, and Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger who spoke of how great mobile design experiences begin and evolve. They covered an overview of vision, the designer’s role, multidisciplinary collaboration, alternatives to user research, the nuances of mobile interface design, and the challenges of scaling a mobile product.

Presenting to a room packed to its 350 person capacity, a further couple of hundred attendees (including many friends!) unfortunately were turned away, showing the relevance of both the content and panel members to the SXSW community. A huge thanks to Morgan Holzer (@msh) who provided a video of the entire discussion for those who couldn’t attend.

Following the success of this topical discussion, Studio Akko will be looking at other forums to present this format with a fresh lineup of engaging panelists.

Original panel description: http://schedule.sxsw.com/2012/events/event_IAP11295

Accompanying slides: http://akko.co/mobiledsgn

What people said: https://twitter.com/#!/search/%23mobiledsgn

[studioakko]

IxDA 2012 People's Choice Award

AKKO’s BKIN was shortlisted for the IXDA 2012 Design Awards!

[studioakko]

Ignite NYC

AKKO’s Ron Goldin explains the concept of pulling oneself out of a work routine to gain perspective and energy at Ignite NYC sponsored by O’Reilly during New York’s Web 2.0 Conference.