{"id":3443,"date":"2024-04-09T10:04:59","date_gmt":"2024-04-09T10:04:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/battrang.museum\/journal\/m-n-associates-mr-thangs-creations-brings-us-to-one-surprise-after-another\/"},"modified":"2025-06-10T16:50:28","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T09:50:28","slug":"m-n-associates-mr-thangs-creations-brings-us-to-one-surprise-after-another","status":"publish","type":"journal","link":"https:\/\/battrang.museum\/en\/journal\/m-n-associates-mr-thangs-creations-brings-us-to-one-surprise-after-another\/","title":{"rendered":"M \u2014 N Associates: \u201cMr. Thang’s creations brings us to one surprise after another\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content_no_spaces” css=”.vc_custom_1640836186403{background-image: url(http:\/\/battrang.museum\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/bttArtboard-2.png?id=1304) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”20rem” el_class=”hide-mobile”][vc_empty_space height=”48rem”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”3rem”][vc_empty_space height=”3rem” el_class=”hide-mobile”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2\/3″ offset=”vc_col-sm-offset-2″][vc_column_text]\r\n

“Mr. Thang’s creations brings us to one surprise after another\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”1rem” el_class=”hide-mobile”][vc_empty_space height=”3rem”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″ offset=”vc_col-md-5 vc_col-sm-offset-2″][vc_column_text]\r\n

M\u00a0\u2014 N Associates<\/h4>\r\nNguyen Duy and Mai Lan co-founded Studio M – N Associates in 2013 to celebrate their shared passion in branding field. Duy and Lan’s creative world lies on the margins of impositions, as long as they can deliver inspiring stories of the brands they\u2019ve worked with.\r\n\r\nFrom Guta Caf\u00e9, JUS to the high-end fashion store brand Labels\u2026 their projects always leave such strong impression, even wining them a series of big and small brand design awards. Their secret? \u201cAll the images that we have included in the branding have their particular meanings. All factors resonate with each other to create an overall picture.\u201d Such ideology accompanied Duy and Lan while entering a new “challenge”, a project implemented with a pottery museum in Bat Trang village, in honors of the ceramic-based art works of the late outstanding ceramic artist Vu Duc Thang.\r\n\r\nBefore joining in the project, the world of Vietnamese pottery and the creations of ceramic artists were still mysterious to Duy and Lan. But the experience turned out to set an entirely different light on the creative inspiration and new knowledge than expected.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″ offset=”vc_col-md-offset-1 vc_col-md-2 vc_col-sm-offset-1 vc_col-xs-offset-4 vc_col-xs-4″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner offset=”vc_hidden-lg vc_hidden-md vc_hidden-sm”][vc_empty_space height=”2rem”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_single_image image=”892″ img_size=”full”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”6rem”][vc_empty_space height=”6rem” el_class=”hide-mobile”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”middle”][vc_column width=”2\/3″ offset=”vc_col-md-offset-2 vc_col-md-3 vc_col-sm-offset-2″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner offset=”vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][vc_empty_space height=”10rem”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text el_class=”no-indent”]M \u2014 Lan and Duy \u2014 N\r\nCo-founders of M \u2014 N Associates<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″ offset=”vc_col-md-offset-1 vc_col-md-6 vc_col-sm-offset-2 vc_col-xs-offset-1 vc_col-xs-10″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner offset=”vc_hidden-lg vc_hidden-md”][vc_empty_space height=”4rem”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2\/3″ offset=”vc_col-md-6 vc_col-xs-8″][vc_empty_space height=”4rem”][vc_empty_space height=”4rem” el_class=”hide-mobile”][vc_single_image image=”1290″ img_size=”full”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/4″ offset=”vc_col-md-2 vc_col-sm-offset-1 vc_col-xs-offset-1 vc_col-xs-3″][vc_single_image image=”1292″ img_size=”full”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”14rem” el_class=”hide-mobile”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column offset=”vc_hidden-lg vc_hidden-md vc_hidden-sm”][vc_empty_space height=”8rem”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2\/3″ offset=”vc_col-sm-offset-2″][vc_column_text]\r\nHow would you describe your creative process\u2019 characteristics?<\/strong>\r\n\r\nWe believe that everyone, especially anyone who is working on creative industry needs to expand their living experiences. When the studio first opened, we used up most of our income just for travelling or buying countless books. Those are access to collecting real-life materials, and that has maintained an ever-lasting process of collecting and updating.\r\n\r\nHow did you<\/strong> approach <\/strong>a<\/strong> cultural project like the virtual pottery museum, which I assume is quite different from other projects the two of you have worked on?<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThe fields or projects we have worked on have been relatively diverse, so we always have to study, continuously research to gather information. Before participating in this project, our knowledge and conception of Vietnamese pottery was quite poor. But once it\u2019s kicked off, there was a whole new horizon in front of our eyes, with things that we could never imagine existed in the world.\r\n\r\nAnother consideration when doing culture-related projects is that we had to be extra careful with our inputs, therefore approaching the topic from many different perspectives was crucial. Besides, the data and materials for this project were not collected beforehand. Initial steps were to search for information everywhere we could: asking everyone to tell us related stories, especially the workers there and also Mr. Thang\u2019s wife, as well as observing each art works\u2019 feature in detail to understand the process of forming such unique museum. And of course, about its late owner \u2013 Mr. Thang.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”8rem” el_class=”hide-mobile”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column offset=”vc_hidden-lg vc_hidden-md vc_hidden-sm”][vc_empty_space height=”6rem”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_section el_class=”.grid-collection”][vc_row equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”middle”][vc_column width=”2\/3″ offset=”vc_col-md-3 vc_col-sm-offset-2″][vc_column_text]\r\nWhen I had the opportunity to visit Bat Trang years ago, I thought it was fascinating. I mean there are such traditional villages right in Hanoi! What is your first impression visiting Bat Trang in your field trips?<\/strong>\r\n\r\nWe started this project in 2018 and have been visiting the village so many times ever since. It was not a shock, but we were surprised, that\u2019s for sure. Duy was born and raised in the city, so when he went to Bat Trang village, everything was so new and exciting for him. [said Mai Lan][\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″ offset=”vc_col-md-offset-1 vc_col-md-4 vc_col-sm-offset-2 vc_col-xs-offset-1 vc_col-xs-10″][vc_single_image image=”1307″ img_size=”full”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column offset=”vc_hidden-lg vc_hidden-md vc_hidden-sm”][vc_empty_space height=”2rem”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”8rem” el_class=”hide-mobile”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2\/3″ offset=”vc_col-sm-offset-2″][vc_column_text]\r\nI heard you two spent a lot of time at the physical museum in Bat Trang for this project. I can’t imagine what a private ceramic museum would look like, to be honest\u2026<\/strong>\r\n\r\nIt’s like walking into a ceramic collector’s living room. There are pots all over the house, so many that you don’t even have a place to sit. It’s like walking into the warehouse of a true ceramicist whose work is displayed everywhere, and everywhere you can see it, and you have to keep looking down at the floor for fear of missing something or stepping on something. Normally, we would imagine objects would be beautifully displayed in the museum, with information tagging along. But in this type of museum, it’s just pure beauty of the objects in any corner. Those artworks shine on their own, and then there is this resonance of all that is the most quintessential, detailed and elaborated. In general, just imagine a personal collection that gathers all the works of a lifetime, some are precious in obvious way, some are random things that you really must hold it to examine closely to see their beauties.\r\n\r\nLearning about the story of a late ceramic artist is both interesting and challenging in itself, isn’t it?<\/strong>\r\n\r\nSo often we would wish that we could have met Mr. Thang when he were alive, because when we were working on this project, the stories about him were just unimaginable. Although we had discussed over how the story should be delivered without involving too much personal emotion, due to the lack of information, but then we decided to try to keep his recalled spirit in branding process. In the past, Mr. Thang had designed the old logo already, so we based on that to create the new one. We were a little nervous at first, but the more involved we were, the more interested we got.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”8rem” el_class=”hide-mobile”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”5\/6″ offset=”vc_col-sm-offset-1 vc_col-xs-12″ css=”.vc_custom_1640777591152{padding-right: 2rem !important;padding-left: 2rem !important;}” el_class=”no-indent”][vc_single_image image=”1298″ img_size=”full”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”0.5rem” el_class=”hide-mobile”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2\/3″ offset=”vc_col-sm-offset-2″][vc_column_text]\r\nHow to express such “spirit” on a virtual museum?<\/strong>\r\n\r\nInitially, in the name itself: \u201cH\u1ed3n \u0110\u1ea5t Vi\u1ec7t\u201d \u2013 \u201cThe Soul of Vietnam\u201d, for the fact that we wanted to bring that distinct \u201cVietnamese soul\u201d into the project and into each letter of our exclusively designed font “MN Vu Thang”. Each letter contains images of ceramic vases scattered, just like the museum now. Mr. Thang often signed his name under each of his art works, so each contains both distinguished meanings and the artist’s personality. Therefore, we use of a whole set of fonts as a way of expression instead of a cumbersome identification system, something delicate and does not overshadow the works exhibited in the museum. Together, the whole system becomes a stage for the works to be displayed more coherently, with more visual information, so that the viewer has as much \u201cspace\u201d to experience the art pieces and the museum as the whole.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”8rem” el_class=”hide-mobile”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column offset=”vc_hidden-lg vc_hidden-md vc_hidden-sm”][vc_empty_space height=”6rem” el_class=”hide-mobile”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row content_placement=”bottom”][vc_column width=”5\/12″ offset=”vc_col-sm-offset-1″][vc_single_image image=”355″ img_size=”full”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”5\/12″][vc_single_image image=”430″ img_size=”full”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”2rem” el_class=”hide-mobile”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2\/3″ offset=”vc_col-sm-offset-2″][vc_column_text]\r\nVery interesting! Usually people call him a pottery artisan, but you two call him an artist?<\/strong>\r\n\r\nBecause he is a true artist, with a contemporary and creative touch. The colors of his ceramic pieces are very different from him using refractory glaze, not Thang Long glaze like the tradition. Therefore, even though the pieces have been made a long time ago, the colors maintain so vivid that if you put them in a modern house setting, they will certainly fit in. I think artisans are masters of a certain field or skill, they do it to the top level. But his works reached to the poetic level.\r\n\r\nHis artistry and creativity shone in each work. Everything he made seem rather spontaneous, out of the creative process itself. You just need to hold a random object and observe its reliefs and you\u2019d get what we mean. Mr. Thang made two vases to celebrate 3000 years of Thang Long (the old name of the capital city of Vietnam \u2013 Hanoi). Ai first we thought that the two vases must have similar reliefs, or at least be symmetrical. But that was not the case, these two vases are completely different, purposefully and artistically placed. Another example: a set of art works has 12 legs, but there are 2 massive legs and 2 tiny legs, in the middle there are dimpled and unequal legs. Mr. Thang painted images of different parts and symbols of Vietnam, and the drawings are also distinguishable. He also gave life to the works while making them, for example with the embossed work of a One-Pillar Pagoda (Ch\u00f9a M\u1ed9t C\u1ed9t), and we don’t think anyone else can make such a beautiful relief! In short, each work cannot be arranged in a series for being too uniquely standing out. We really needed to observe very carefully to understand just that. He never failed to surprise us![\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column offset=”vc_hidden-lg vc_hidden-md vc_hidden-sm”][vc_empty_space height=”6rem” el_class=”hide-mobile”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”8rem” el_class=”hide-mobile”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row content_placement=”bottom”][vc_column width=”5\/12″ offset=”vc_col-sm-offset-1″][vc_single_image image=”1300″ img_size=”full”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”5\/12″][vc_single_image image=”1302″ img_size=”full”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”2rem”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2\/3″ offset=”vc_col-sm-offset-2″][vc_column_text]\r\nFrom the materials collected during the project implementation, I feel that the artist’s style left a great influence on you both?<\/strong>\r\n\r\nAccording to our research, Mr. Thang practiced bolder and more innovative methods in making pottery compared to other artisans in Bat Trang. His ceramic pieces are not an old substance from previous generations, but something inherited from tradition and resonated with new methods and aesthetics. Mr. Thang was not an original ceramic artisan from Bat Trang, he graduated from the Faculty of Graphics of Hanoi College of Industrial Fine Arts in 1980 before pursuing creativity with ceramics for 40 years. We even made a joke that he was probably the \u201cOG\u201d in graphic design in Vietnam. We got a strong impression that he must had been an artist with a flexible and complex soul, to be able to make the art pieces as soulful as a human being, with atypical feature. For us, he was playful artist who never stopped experiment and play with pottery \u2013 his type of canvas. Looking at the studio where the artist worked in the past, there are results of successful experiments and also evidences of \u201cthe mess” created in the creative process. The biggest influence is what we truly believe in: If when he was alive, he didn’t want his museum to look old or didactic, that\u2019s something to keep in mind for aiming the newness and interference while working on the project.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″ offset=”vc_col-sm-offset-4″][vc_column_text]\r\n

Ho Chi Minh City\r\nDecember 2021\r\nWords: V\u00e2n Anh<\/strong>\r\nPhoto: L\u00ea Lai<\/strong> & Private Source<\/strong><\/p>\r\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”4rem” el_class=”hide-mobile”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2\/3″ offset=”vc_col-sm-offset-2″][vc_separator][vc_empty_space height=”4rem” el_class=”hide-mobile”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2\/3″ offset=”vc_col-sm-offset-2″][vc_column_text el_class=”no-indent”]M \u2014 N Associates\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>is a creative design company specializing in branding, based in Saigon. They have \u00a0collaborated with many brands such as Guta, Gaiet\u00e9, Leman, GHTK, Beck\u2019s Ice, PetChoy, HiRaw, Malto, Labels\u2026 M-N Associate has won a series of design awards and is increasingly asserting its position in the creative community as the whole and in branding in Vietnam market in particular.\r\n\r\nAwards<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/3″ offset=”vc_col-sm-offset-2″][vc_column_text el_class=”no-indent”]2022\r\nGraphis Annual 2022, Gold Award in Branding\r\n\r\n2021\r\nDieline Awards, First Place in Beverage Brand Identity Systems\r\n\r\n2020\r\nInternational Design Awards, Silver Award in Rebranding\r\nADC Awards, Bronze Cube in Typefaces\r\nThe One Show, Merit in Branding\r\nGraphis Annual 2021, Silver Award in Typography\r\nGraphis Annual 2021, Silver Award in Branding[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_column_text el_class=”no-indent”]2019\r\nInternational Design Awards, Gold Award in Printing\r\nInternational Design Awards, Silver Award in Branding\r\nGerman Design Awards, Excellent Winner in Packaging\r\nGerman Design Awards, Excellent Winner in Brand Identity\r\nThe One Show, Shortlisted in Logo\r\n\r\n2018\r\nA\u2019 Design Awards & Competitions, Platinum Award in Branding\r\nA\u2019 Design Awards & Competitions, Gold Award in Packaging\r\nGraphis Branding 7, 1 Gold Award and 2 Silver Awards[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”6rem”][vc_empty_space height=”6rem” el_class=”hide-mobile”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

\n
\n\t\n \t
\t\n \t
\"\"<\/div>\n \t
\n \t

Four Women Designers in Dialogue with Ceramic Heritage<\/h4>\n \n\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t