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MINIMAL MAXIMIZES NEW CHICAGO 
STUDIO HEADQUARTERS

DESIGN AND BRAND INCUBATION FIRM EXPANDS ITS PRESENCE IN CHICAGO'S WEST LOOP

January 22, 2013 (Chicago, IL) -- After a two-year search, Scott Wilson is excited to announce a new home for his design studio and brand incubation firm MINIMAL. Located at 939 West Lake Street in Chicago's Fulton Market District, the multiple bow-truss structure will provide up to 20,000 square feet of disruptive growth for MINIMAL, its clients, various start-ups and incubated brands over the next decade.

Situated at the base of the Morgan Street El stop, the new headquarters will feature a 5,000 square foot design studio, rapid prototyping lab, a massive event and activity space, and a collaborative cafe that Wilson hopes will help facilitate creative cross-pollination amongst local entrepreneurs and organically cultivate new ventures. Plans are also in the works to engage with long-term strategic partners on brand immersion environments, experiences and events in the space.

Wilson has been looking for a new space since 2010 when he kickstarted the crowd funding revolution with his TikTok+LunaTik Watch Kits for the iPod nano. The goal was to find a street-level space that allows he and his team to engage the local community and consumers while accommodating MINIMAL’s unique business model, one that balances fee-based consulting, equity-based partnerships and its own self-manufacturing and brand incubation. The new space will provide the flexibility for this organic and dynamic approach to what Wilson calls "design doing."

The maximizing of space does not mean MINIMAL will feel bigger to collaborators and clients. The firm's focus is to remain small and build on their stellar reputation for producing work of exceptional quality and consistency. Instead, the larger space will better support its clients with dedicated project rooms and space for large scale projects such as furniture systems, medical equipment and retail merchandising. It will also allow for continued creation of new brands that Wilson has incubated over the past five years including Ooba, Uncommon, and LUNATIK.

"I am very excited about creating a place for MINIMAL as well as other local creatives to hang out and share ideas which will hopefully foster new opportunities," said Founder Scott Wilson.  "I want MINIMAL’s 'corner collaborative cafe' to be an intersection of life and work--a place that people look forward to meeting at. And I've always wanted a space that could be used for inspiring installations and events, or even just a batting cage or pick-up game of basketball. I miss the work/life balance I had on the Nike campus."

Opening its doors in March 2013, the new MINIMAL space is in the heart of a neighborhood undergoing an exciting cultural and infrastructural transformation. It is attractively located just steps from some of the best dining Chicago has to offer including Girl and the Goat, Grant Achatz’s Next Restaurant, iNG, and Aviary among others.  

ABOUT MINIMAL: From game-changing new start-ups to the most recognized companies in the world, MINIMAL creates iconic, disruptive, brand-building products and experiences that connect emotionally with users. Founded by Scott Wilson, the 2012 National Design Award recipient, our work spans a diverse range of industries from technology, interaction, and consumer products to fashion, furniture, and environments.

MNML 2012 Holiday Gift Guide

 Last week, Scott Wilson traveled to London to co-host the launch of Coalesse Europe and MINIMAL's SW_1 Collection.  It was a terrific VIP event held at the Steelcase London WorkLife showroom where Wilson and Coalesse Creative Director Robert Arko discussed inspirations behind the SW_1 Collection and MINIMAL's on-going collaboration with the Coalesse brand.

Most recently, SW_1 was specified to be a part of Apple's new headquarters in Cupertino. A few photos from the London showroom:

Posted from: NY, USA

Scott Wilson was in New York last week where he was recognized as the recipient of the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award for Product Design (2012).

It was a very busy week, the highlights of which included the awards gala, a NDA Winner’s Panel discussion, and the NY Teen Design Fair, hosted by Tim Gunn.  The fair attracted hundreds of teens who got the chance to interact with Wilson and other designers, offering advice and encouragement to students interested in the field of design.

Wilson also had a chance to sit down with TIME's Allison Berry, opening up about his inspirations, crowd-funding, and form vs. function.  

How much of design for you is function, and how much is form? Do you find it hard to satisfy them both in some projects? It’s almost all function. The form part is easy once you’ve defined the problem and designed the solution. If you have good research or good insights, the thing kind of designs itself. Putting a form around it is the easy part, really. Finding the insights and finding the connections and the right puzzle piece that may be missing, that’s the hard part.  

Metropolis Magazine: Q & A with Scott Wilson

Metropolis Editor-in-Chief Susan Szensay sat down recently with Scott Wilson for an interview to discuss the launch of TAKTIK and how MINIMAL's use of crowd-funding is changing the game in product development. An excerpt:

When the call to crowd finance a product called TakTik on Kickstarter closed recently, 4,597 backers pledged $680,568  to produce the rugged protective case for  iPhones. The brains and entrepreneurial spirit behind this successful venture, Scott Wilson, is the founder and principal designer of the Chicago-based design consultancy MINIMAL. In his fearless embrace of disruptive thinking in new product development Scott has recognized that 21st century technology—and popular use of it—are, together, changing the game in product development, financing, and marketing. Scott’s first venture into crowd financing raised an unexpected $1 million, expanding MINIMAL’s business model. With a modest goal of raising $150,000 for TakTik and the pledged amount the exceeds four times that, I thought it was time to get Scott to talk about product design, manufacturing, and the industrial design consultancy in a world of crowd financing and social networking.

IDSA 2012 IDEA Awards

MINIMAL is excited to announce we are the recipients of IDSA's 2012 IDEA Awards for the following design collaborations: Silver Award on Dell's XPS 13 (Computer Equipment) and Xbox 360 Wireless Speed Wheel (Entertainment) as well as finalists for the Sonosite Edge (Medical) and Xbox 360 Wireless Speed Wheel (Leisure, Computer Equipment).

Scott Wilson and MNML's LUNATIK, a brand conceived and validated globally via crowd funding, is back on Kickstarter for its third project- reaching its funding goals with the first 72+ hours. So what is the latest from the LUNATIK lab?

Well...it’s important to always use protection. When you don’t accidents happen. For our latest LUNATIK project we got down and dirty in the details in an effort to prevent all accidents. The result is TAKTIK, the most protective iPhone case around. 

With TAKTIK, LUNATIK is raising the bar in case construction. Having gone above and beyond to transform the iPhone into a refined and rugged everyday warrior, TAKTIK balances strong iconic aesthetics with innovative performance features. The result is a boldly designed, precision engineered case of the best performance materials on the market.

Scott Wilson Honored with Prestigious 2012 National Design Award

Wilson Wins Smithsonian's Cooper Hewitt, National Design Museum Award for Product Design

(Chicago, IL) May 4, 2012--Scott Wilson, founder and principal of MINIMAL, has been awarded with Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award for excellence in the category of Product Design. Winning the National Design Award, a recognition of innovative achievement in American design, distinguishes Wilson as a significant contributor to the industry.

“Being recognized by such a prestigious design organization and awarded for my body of work is the greatest honor of my career. It makes all the countless hours, obsessing over the details and product experience, even more meaningful,” said Scott Wilson. “I continue to look forward to the new challenges and opportunities for design in the world and hope to live up to the expectations that come along with this honor.”

In addition to winning the 2012 National Design Award, Cooper-Hewitt has recognized and exhibited Wilson’s work multiple times over the past decade as part of their National Design Triennial exhibition series.

Cooper-Hewitt Director Bill Moggridge announced the winners of this year’s awards. The Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum will honor the award recipients at a gala dinner and celebrate outstanding achievement in design during National Design Week in NYC this October.

First launched at the White House in 2000 as a project of the White House Millennium Council, the National Design Awards were established to promote excellence and innovation in design. First Lady Michelle Obama serves as the Honorary Patron for this year’s National Design Awards.

About Scott Wilson: Scott Wilson is the founder and principal designer of Chicago-based MINIMAL.  Formerly a Global Creative Director of Nike, Wilson has been a design leader in organizations such as Thomson Consumer Electronics, IDEO, Fortune Brands and Motorola.  Equal parts visionary designer and serial entrepreneur, Wilson consistently delivers compelling, disruptive yet thoughtful solutions to market across a diverse range of industries and has created some of the most recognized consumer design icons. Scott Wilson is proud to be the 2012 recipient of Cooper-Hewitt's National Design Award for Product Design and one of Fast Company's 50 Most Influential Designers in America.

About Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum: Cooper Hewitt, National Design Museum is the only museum in the nation devoted exclusively to historic and contemporary design. Founded in 1897, the museum has been a branch of the Smithsonian since 1967. The museum presents compelling perspectives on the impact of design on daily life through active education programs, exhibitions and publications.

Visit Cooper Hewitt for full list of winners.

For inquiries:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Task light alternative ‘Sisifo’ makes official debut at 2012 Frankfurt Light + Building Show and Milan’s Salone Del Mobile

(Chicago, IL) May 1, 2012--The world's largest and most celebrated design lighting brand, Artemide, debuted designer Scott Wilson’s new luminaire Sisifo last month at the 2012 Frankfurt Light + Building Show and Milan's Salon del Mobile. The flexible hybrid design is a new typology of luminaire that blends task light with table lamp and leverages LEDs qualities to create a new icon in lighting. Inspired by the desire to re-imagine how LEDs are used in the office and at home, Sisifo's large LED illuminated diffused disc gracefully balances on its articulating stem and easily tilts 360 degrees to direct a soft but powerful light source that can be dimmed via a touch switch.

“I am very grateful and excited for the opportunity to work for Artemide, an iconic brand in the design industry and one that I have long admired,” said Wilson. “I am thrilled to introduce the first of hopefully many collaborations with Mr. Gismondi and the Artemide team. With Sisifo, Artemide clearly understood my vision for creating a new type of task light that was not a derivative of traditional task lights. I believe the design balances both performance and emotion in a simple gesture that leverages the magic of LED technology."

With its spherical central articulation Sisifo guarantees maximum freedom in directing light with minimum encumbrance at the base, allowing use on both larger tables and smaller bedside surfaces. The light consists of a smaller footprint weighted base that employs a double ball joint, allowing the floating light panel to be articulated as desired. The lamp head and light source utilize micro lenticular surface details to amplify the light output. Its generous adjustable diffuser eliminates unwanted harsh shadows and provides a soothing, more familiar illumination.

The initial public response to Sisifo has been overwhelmingly positive with comments reinforcing its iconic and disruptive design.

For inquiries:

Last night the Edison Awards celebrated its 25th year and TikTok+LunaTik by Scott Wilson & MNML were honored with a silver award for Best New Product! The sold-out black-tie event held in NYC included hundreds of design industry executives from some of the world’s most recognizable companies including honoring TED Curator Chris Anderson with a 2012 Edison Achievement Award.

Thomas Stat, 2012 Edison Awards Steering Committee Chairman, presented Wilson & MNML with the award, complementing them as “innovators who make our future.” In an era of ever-quickening technological advances and increased competition, TikTok+LunaTik fully  reflect Edison’s definition of innovation as critiqued through themes of concept, value, impact and delivery.

TikTok+LunaTIk burst onto the scene in November, 2010 when the designs launched on crowd funding platform Kickstarter.com.  The game-changing products not only raised nearly $1M in 30 days and found their place on Apple retail shelves, but continue to inspire designers and entrepreneurs all over the world as a symbol for what can be achieved thru pure design vision and open-source social commerce.

In addition to the awards gala, the annual Edison Awards program encompassed multiple events over a two-day period including the Meet the Innovators Forum, in which TikTok creator Scott Wilson participated in a panel discussion on design innovation moderated by USA Today Tech Columnist Ed Baig along with NEST CEO Tony Fadell, OnStar VP Nick Pudar and CSRWare President Karen Alonardo.

Bill's Design Talks: Scott Wilson

Bill Moggridge, director of the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York – the only museum of historic and contemporary design in the US- is also the host of his own series Bill’s Design Talks. Next month, May 24th, Scott Wilson joins Moggridge to discuss his design methodology. Wilson who joins the series in its second year is in strong company as past guests have included Chad Hurley of YouTube, Michael Bierut of Pentagram, and Michael Graves. 

Posted from: Milan, Italy

International design salons and conferences were in full swing last week. Minimal was honored to participate in several of the festivities. From Frankfurt to Milan, Scott Wilson and his ever-innovating projects were among the most revered of the exhibitions.  

At Frankfurt’s Light + Building fair, Minimal unveiled their recent collaboration with Artemide. Sisifo, an LED desk light, is the first fixture created with the global company but is certainly not the last. Wilson discusses the collaboration process and what’s to come in an interview with Azure.

After the interview head over to StylePark to see Sisifo featured on their site.

In Milan, the DOMUS and Audi: Future in the Making exibition offered guests a surreal experience in its Baroquean ceiling frescoes and grand halls with crystal décor. The lavish affair included a room dedicated to the most influential Kickstarter projects and featured our very own TikTok+LunaTik.

Art Institute of Chicago Features Scott Wilson + MNML's Work in New Exhibition

THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO SHOWCASES WORK FROM DESIGNER SCOTT WILSON + MINIMAL IN NEW EXHIBITION

TikTok+LunaTik on Display in Rethinking Typologies: Architecture and Design from the Permanent Collection, On View through July 29, 2012

CHICAGO-March 5, 2012—The iconic, award-winning iPod nano watch designs that became an overnight phenomenon just over a year ago when they debuted via crowd funding site Kickstarter.com, inspiring designers and entrepreneurs around the globe, are now on view in Rethinking Typologies.  The exhibit explores a wide range of objects and innovations in architecture and design from the museum’s permanent collection and the ways in which these inventions spanning the 20th and 21st centuries have shaped our way of life.

“What make TikTok+LunaTik particularly noteworthy is that they speak to Scott Wilson’s incredible ability as a designer with an entrepreneurial drive,” said Zoe Ryan, John H. Bryan Chair and Curator of Architecture and Design at Art Institute. “They illustrate Scott’s aptitude for perceiving gaps in the market and conceiving of designs that take complex ideas and turn them into outcomes that are simple to use, yet impeccably crafted to encourage user interaction and engagement. TikTok+LunaTik are signature designs and we are thrilled to include them in our Rethinking Typologies exhibition as well as in our permanent collection.”

The Art Institute has acquired a cross section of Scott Wilson’s work over the years, including watches designed for Nike, iBelieve and the JUMBO task lamp.  In addition to being invited into the permanent collection, TikTok+LunaTik will also be sold in the Art Institute’s Museum Shop.

“Being recognized by the Art Institute is humbling,” said Scott Wilson. “TikTok+LunaTik have quickly come to serve as a game-changing symbol for what can be achieved through pure design vision and crowd funding communities.  There is a revolution underway for product designers around the world and we are so proud to have influenced this movement with our work.”

About the exhibition: From the development of the modern house to the emergence of information design, each era faces the challenge of adapting conventional ideas to new technology, social needs, and cultural ideals. This exhibition takes a broad historical view of the innovations that have shaped contemporary life and the built environment through suites of work devoted to historical and emerging typologies in architecture and design. Spanning the 20th and 21st centuries, these thematic suites highlight important recent acquisitions and areas of strength in the permanent collection of the Department of Architecture and Design at the Art Institute of Chicago. 

Rethinking Typologies: Architecture and Design from the Permanent Collection runs March 3–July 29, 2012 at the Art Institute of Chicago’s Modern Wing, Galleries 283-285.

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For Scott Wilson | MNML related Press Inquiries:

Entrepreneur Magazine features Scott Wilson + MINIMAL's success with crowd funding

The March issue of Entrepreneur Magazine takes an in-depth look at how crowd funding has quickly become an incredibly viable way to raise some serious captial for product ideas and start-ups.  Being at the forefront of this successful movement using Kickstarter to help launch TikTok + LunaTik, Scott Wilson was interviewed for his phenomenal success with crowd funding that helped launch LUNATIK into a global brand overnight. Here is an excerpt:

"Crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo attract hobbyists and wannabes, but they can also net real cash for those who use them strategically. With savvy profiles and targeted campaigns, some aspiring entrepreneurs are even raising amounts in the five or six figures. Here's how they do it....

The poster boy for successful crowdfunding is Scott Wilson, who worked on his LunaTik watch design as a pet project while running his Chicago-based design consultancy, Minimal. Wilson, a former creative director for Nike Watches, conceived a wristband that would hold an iPod Nano so the device could function as a watch."

Yanko Design Interview with Scott Wilson

2012 is all about inspiration at Yanko Design. Through a series of 12 exclusive interviews over the next year, editor Radhika Seth will highlight designers and their stories that inspire. This month features Scott Wilson and takes an in-depth look into some of his projects, start-ups and lessons learned thru his successes and failures. 

"There is more to Scott Wilson than being the Kickstarter man. His boyish charm belies his wisdom and learning experiences. Listening to him tell me his story, makes me wonder…just how did he do it! Maybe it’s the Nike influence! A former Global Creative Director at Nike, Wilson has lead design organizations such as IDEO, Thomson Consumer Electronics, Fortune Brands, and Motorola and created some of the most recognized consumer design icons. Without further ado, let’s ‘kickstart’ February with Scott Wilson…"

Click here to check out Scott Wilson +MNML's latest project on Kickstarter!

LunaTik Touch Pen — A dual mode pen designed to seamlessly go from paper to tablet with the click of a button.

The way we interact and work is evolving. So should our tools. More and more people are embracing their iPads and tablets to take notes and capture ideas in a new hybrid analog- digital workflow. These users continuously switch between paper and tablet during the day and require both a traditional ink pen and a touch screen stylus. While both are great on their own, we prefer to carry only one everyday pen.

ABOUT LUNATIK TOUCH PENS

The LunaTik Touch Pen was born from a desire to integrate our pen of choice, the rollerball, with the digital stylus. Our patent pending dual mode tip and custom engineered materials are designed to meet our demanding specifications for touch screen responsiveness and flow. On paper, the Touch Pen uses precision Japanese rollerball components and is compatible with other popular refills. The premium LunaTik Alloy Touch Pens are obsessively designed and crafted from aircraft grade aluminum and will be available in select anodized colors.

The LunaTik Plastic Touch Pens allow you to express yourself with more than ink and pixels and are available in Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black and White.

ABOUT SCOTT WILSON & MINIMAL Founded by Scott Wilson in 2007, MINIMAL develops iconic, disruptive, brand-building products and user experiences. MINIMAL consistently creates market successes that connect emotionally with users from game-changing products like Xbox Kinect to life- changing med-tech devices to paradigm-changing ideas such as LunaTik, the studio's first Kickstarter funded project that launched a global brand overnight and inspired designers and entrepreneurs around the world.

Exclusively for pre-order on Kickstarter starting at $30. Follow our journey. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1104350651/lunatik-touch-pen-the-evolution-of-the-stylus

MNML nominated for 2012 Edison Award

Scott Wilson + MNML have officially thrown their hats in the ring for a 2012 Edison Award for Best New Product with TikTok + LunaTik Watch Kits.  Stay tuned this spring to see if we nab one!

About the Edison Awards:

Each year, the Edison Awards Steering Committee accepts nominations for the Best New Product Awards from companies and individuals.

The Edison Best New Product Awards are known around the world for recognizing and honoring innovation and excellence in the development, marketing and launch of new products and services. These awards symbolize the persistence and excellence personified by Thomas Alva Edison, while also strengthening America's drive to remain at the forefront of innovation, creativity, and ingenuity in the global economy.