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MVA Field Notes

Ideas, influences and observations from the Ministry of Visual Affairs studio. Design in practice, in progress, and in conversation.

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What you Keep
2026

What you Keep

The most future-facing move on the table is often to not throw it away. Notes on continuity, from a city that kept every layer.

what-you-keep
Vintage - The fairy dust in commercial design
2025

Vintage - The fairy dust in commercial design

Antiques and vintage items layer depth, authenticity, and a sense of intrigue that new products alone can’t achieve. Its the fairy dust of design.

vintage-the-fairy-dust-in-commercial-design
Power of Small
2025

Power of Small

The future of adaptive reuse is not just in uber-mega projects but in the small spaces that bring people together. Its time to start thinking small.

power-of-small
Designing Life
2025

Designing Life

We design more than buildings, furniture, or products. We design the lives we live. This post explores how to take the principles of good design and apply them to life

designing-life
The Best Ideas Aren’t at Your Desk
2025

The Best Ideas Aren’t at Your Desk

Creativity doesn’t live in routine. It comes alive when you step into the unfamiliar—when you travel, get lost, and start paying attention in new ways.

the-best-ideas-arent-at-your-desk
Notes from Osaka / Expo 2025
2024

Notes from Osaka / Expo 2025

Explore the world of creative design with our latest insights and trends that inspire innovation and creativity in every project.

notes-from-osaka
Design Is a Lens, Not a Discipline
2024

Design Is a Lens, Not a Discipline

Design is not simply a job, its a process of consolidating experiences, goals, a range of resources and raw optimism focused on a problem.

design-is-a-lens-not-a-discipline
Reclaiming the Third Space
2023

Reclaiming the Third Space

There’s home, there’s work, and then there’s that other place. the third space. This is dwindling resource in America, and it is critical we reclaim.

reclaiming-the-third-space
Tarrifs and how to play it

Tarrifs and how to play it

Tarrifs are this moving boogie man apearing out of nowhere, then seamingly disappearing just as you've priced them in, heres a play.

tarrifs-and-how-to-play-it