Interview with M — N Associates

I started to study multimedia designer at RMIT University Vietnam due to my passion about working on film industry. However, opportunities after graduating kept driving me into agency jobs. Then I realized, I’m better at creating and designing, by applying knowledges and skills from making film. My design makes more sense and easier for clients to understand. After a while, I met M — Lan, with her knowledge on business and production, visualizing and producing craziest design in Vietnam, become much easier. Together, we found our firm to seek and resolve problems for business as well as sharing our knowledges for others.

I'm all about sustainable design, it worked for me when all the content, requirements and design harmonizing and supply for daily wants and needs.

Curious and ambitious for learning new things.

Marketing, entrepreneurship, storytelling, script-writing, content development, strategy planning and gossiping.

I just want my studio to grow steadily and sustainably therefore, I still have time to care for each of every project that comes from out studio.

Keep learning and work hard, every project is a greater lesson than go to school.

For me, I'm just trying best to solve clients' problems.

I have breakfast and coffee late, than reviewing works from designers, give them new tasks and start to work on other projects and replying emails. Then, maybe leave the studio around 6-7pm.

Reading design news, updating trends from European, Asian to American, studying new creative process, production process from other industries like plastic, glass, ceramic to interior, architecture for better understanding and easier for collaboration on greater scale.

For me, it have to be logical. All developments of the design has to be meaningful and functional on certain criteria.

When there's no more to fix from us on design and production aspects, things could be limited in so many ways in Vietnam but if it reach the limitation of production capability and it releases with certain satisfaction from customers.

My biggest design work is our studio, because each project has the same effort and consume an quite amount of time for researching and development, to be unique on the market and to be accepted. So it can't be judging on any particular project.

In-house anonymous designers that maintains great brands like Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Monocle, etc.

Our mix, young and hip culture is really affect my work. Combining with my reading on sustainable design from other cultures. I can create something unique and mixed here.And traveling is always a great habit to observe new lifestyles, cultures, find new daily inspirations and relax.

I'm not easy to work with, and I have a great observation on people behaviour, so I'm quite selected to choose carefully who I can work with. Therefore, I could take down the risk of failure on communication which is one of the most common thing for failed projects.

Every of project from our studio that could be launched successfully is a social achievement for us because it is always working back and forward from end-users to our clients' aspect.

Won Platinum and Gold Award on the first time attending. It's such a great journey to receive the award.

The whole journey happens when I started to draw typography back in high school and later fall in love with technology when on RMIT Tour for high school students

Mainly we're focusing on branding in our studio, so it's not only about visual system, but more about how the identity designed within discussed brand strategy and how the visual involve into different kinds of communication medium. Personally I'd love to learn and practice more on product design to understand more about human behavior

Keep learning everyday, break things up and put back together in your way.

Great designer can foresee not only the details but the whole system and make it greater together.

In many reality aspects, seeing how people response to your design.

I travel, as much as I can, to have more materials, seeking for new / old ideas

My partner M — Lan

Research, have dinner, talk and wander

The studio is boutique and small, currently located near the airport, away from Saigon's downtown hustle and bustle. Started with just the duo, M — N Associates works closely with startup clients to create new and meaningful cool brands in Vietnam. The association concept of the studio is all about connecting best creative minds on their fields collaborating on projects to produce best quality rather than collecting them under one studio, give them more freedom to innovate.

Creation and innovation to serve daily wants and needs for particular criteria of humanity.

Branding, of course, the whole system, from zero to finish.

When we're on field trips, travel, eating and talking.

Developing the right concept before developing the visual system, and refining the right visual concept to adapt and solve client's needs.

Its logic, the content and the visual perfectly match to each other.

We discuss and research first about the concept development, it could take really long time before digging into the visual system but it saves more time when into visual development and eliminate many unnecessary ideas.

We discussed all the issues and direction as a team to come to a refined solutional system them execute it individually according to personal styles and understandings. And work again together as a team to peer review each solutions to make it better before presenting to clients

Contact us via m-lan@m-n.associates