MET Studio has created two new Associateships at its London office, in order to boost the company's senior management structure and further drive business development with both the company's museum and institutional client base and also with its commercial client base.
The agency, which celebrates its 30th year in business in 2012, has appointed Senior 3D designer Peter Karn and branding and communications specialist Alexander McCuaig as Associates, both of whom have worked for the company for over five years. They join a management structure led by company founder Alex McCuaig, who originally set MET Studio up in 1982 and remains a hands-on presence across the London and Hong Kong offices as Chairman and CEO, supported by two Design Directors: Lloyd Hicks, who directs project works out of the London office and Neil Williams, who runs projects in the company's Hong Kong office.
"It's vital to our continuing success in winning new work to reflect a balance of youth and experience," commented Chairman Alex McCuaig, "and these appointments will ensure that balance within the company structure. The new seniority of the Associates will also see them playing a more major front-end role as we expand into new markets - particularly in the Americas, in association with our North American partners Academy Studios, as well as across continental Europe."
New Associate Peter Karn graduated from Berkshire College of Art and Design in 2001 with a first class honours degree in Three Dimensional Design. He then joined MET Studio, where he has worked on all stages of creative design, development and production for projects such as the multi-award-winning Hong Kong Wetland Park, the world's largest eco park and visitor centre; the Budongo Trail exhibition (called by Sir David Attenborough 'remarkable and imaginative' and 'a truly outstanding achievement') and Fusion World in Singapore, where he acted as creative director, liaising with Singaporean government R&D institution A*Star. Fusion World won the Best Public Space Award in 2009 at the Modern Decoration Media Awards in China. Peter is currently lead designer on the Dutch Maritime Experience, an immersive experiential journey through maritime history for the Scheepvaartmuseum in Rotterdam. In Spring 2011 he won the Komfort Workspace competition with his design for the perfect working environment.
"It's fantastic to have been given this role within such a strong and creative design team," commented Karn. "This is a very exciting time for MET Studio and an opportunity to explore new ideas and build upon MET Studio's already prestigious history. I am particularly looking forward to making connections with clients and taking the lead role in many upcoming inspiring projects."
Alexander McCuaig studied at Chelsea College of Art and Design before taking a BA in Advertising at Sheffield in 2001. He is now MET Studio's lead 2D designer, as well as playing a key role in all front-end output on pitches and new projects for the company, specialising in key themes and strategies. At MET Studio he led all the branding and multi-media work on projects such as the Manchester United Experience in Macau (winner of the Exhibition Category at the prestigious Far Eastern 'Ring' Awards in 2009); the BugWorld Experience in Liverpool (a finalist in the Ring Awards, Scottish Design Awards and FX Awards) and a new research facility for Saudi Aramco in Saudi Arabia. He has also art directed much of the audio-visual work commissioned by MET Studio for it projects, including the £140,000 film about Manchester United for the Manchester United Experience in Macau. Alexander is currently working on several UK projects, as well as a major museum project in Mexico.
"Drawing on the experience of providing core services in experiential design, MET Studio has in recent years also built an enviable reputation for providing fresh, dynamic and effective solutions to marketing and brand-augmenting projects, for some of the world's best-known brands," McCuaig said. "Brand promotion is changing constantly and the accent on the experiential and on telling a story is now at the forefront of this evolution. I believe there is no company better suited to this way of thinking than MET Studio. As a result, this is a really exciting time both for me and for the company and I am delighted to have been recognised as one of the figureheads of a really great team."