Milk Studios

Milk Studios_logo, housestyle, and ads

In 1999, Base was approached by Mazdack Rassi about developing the identity for what was to be a new photo studio. We met him at 450 West 15th St, today a renowned address in NYC’s Meat Packing District. “We are going to be the best photo studio in the world,” proclaimed Rassi at the time. Looking at what was then simply an enormous, concrete shell, we were a touch skeptical. However, in the ten years we have worked with Milk, it has made good on its promise, growing from a single studio into a six company conglomerate that is today a leader in fashion and the arts.

When we created the Milk Studios identity, we designed a translucent block logo to reference light and the photographic process. Around it, we developed a sophisticated visual language that reflected the high level of service the Milk Studios was to provide. Says Rassi, “Most photo studios at the time were owned by photographers. Milk was the first photo studio that had a hotel management point of view. It was all about the service. The client doesn’t feel the difference leaving his hotel and going to Milk Studios for work.”

Soon thereafter, Milk expanded quickly, opening companies related to the photographic process. Rassi explains, “The various companies came about as a natural extension [of our business]. Clients asked for Milk to be involved in different areas, like providing equipment and then taking this equipment to location shoots. Or asking if Milk could handle the production as well. We became a one-stop shop.”

As companies grow, it is standard protocol to tweak the existing overarching identity to accommodate brand extensions. We however decided to give each company its own distinct identity. “People go to Milk not only for the service, but to tap into the creative atmosphere and network that Milk provides,” explains Rassi. “It therefore made sense for each division to have its own style and character.”

Milk Equipment

Milk Equipment’s identity reflects the culture of the staff

The first division to open was Milk Equipment. We designed an identity based on the street culture of the people who work there. The visual world incorporates motifs from the worlds of skateboarding, motorcycles, tattoos, and rock and roll.

formula 2x2

Formula identity and applications

Then in 2002, Milk decided to open its third and fourth division, House, a production and casting company, and Formula–”baby Milk,” if you will. To even further differentiate House from the rest, Rassi went to another agency to develop its identity. As Formula was targeting the younger, edgier creative crowd, we referenced video gaming, with Pac Man characters that appear throughout the studios.

Milk Gallery

The stenciled look of the Milk Gallery identity

In 2004, Milk decided to open Milk Gallery on the ground floor of the building. The space, designed by Richardson Sadeki, became the go to venue for exhibitions and high-level events. The identity, utilizing vibrant orange, a stencil typeface, and industrial language, reflects that transportive nature of the Meat Packing District’s past.

Milk Digital

Milk Digital has a western feel which counters the clean lines usually associated with digital studios.

Because of the changing nature of the photography business, Milk this year added Digital. An obvious choice in developing such an identity would be to reference the high-tech world. We chose to go in the opposite direction, playing with the idea of a western hunting lodge or saloon. The logo, a Western-style font, is pixelated to reference the digital process. Based on the same theme, the logo is burned onto the DVD cases as if it were applied by a branding iron. The logo is as well etched onto the Milk Digital laptops. The Milk Digital lounge was designed by Scott Morrison and his colleagues at Earnest Sewn.

But with each subsequent venture, Milk’s overall identity became increasingly scattered. After we’d given each of these companies its own unique look and feel, the owners of Milk then tasked us with bringing these six distinct areas together. Says Rassi, “With six divisions, it got to a point where it was important to make it known that they were all connected, all a part of the Milk Group. We needed to reinforce the one-stop shop.” The challenge: how to connect these six, vastly different identities that we’d created?

Click here for our solution…