Thirst, New Art Director of MAS Context

Having finished our first five years, it seems a good moment to shake things up a little bit and we can’t think of any people better to do that than Rick and Bud. The White House honored Valicenti in 2011 with the Smithsonian Cooper­Hewitt National Design Award for Communication Design and, in 2006, he received the AIGA Medal, the highest honor of the graphic design profession. But besides his deserved professional recognition, Rick is an extraordinary mentor, educator, instigator and supporter of multiple initiatives in Chicago and beyond. A perfect friend to work with and learn from. Bud’s work has also been recognized with multiple awards and exhibited widely. His unique perspective on design and the creative process, as well as his interest in systems and processes will, without doubt, determine how we approach our upcoming issues and its final outcome. If you want to see their work and learn about Thirst’s philosophy, check out their website: 3st.com.

This new phase comes after a fantastic two-year collaboration with Renata Graw from creative studio Plural. Plural was instrumental in giving a new identity to MAS Context, leading the design of our last seven issues, redefining the physical copies, and building our website from scratch. A vast and demanding set of tasks (trust us) that, with their expertise (and patience), were extraordinarily executed. We are incredibly thankful to the commitment by Renata, Alexa and Jeremiah during the last two years. We can’t wait to see the work that comes out of their studio next.

We are currently in the initial steps of our collaboration with Thirst, with promising ideas on the table that will take shape in the upcoming weeks. You will see the first results of these exchanges with the release of our Spring issue, Repetition, so stay tuned.