To my surprise, for a studio who's work is so outstanding, I found their website to be quite mediocre. For starters, the index page is not showing up properly, as part of the type beneath the logo disappears off the edge of the site frame on the right and the rest of it re-emerges on the other side on the left. When you click the logo to enter, the index page shows up as normal. This does not make a good first impression.
Whilst in the case of my first review of the IKON gallery, the use of white space was very well done, the use of it in MK12's website is overused. The composition is very basic, with the site being placed inside a white rectangle frame centred against a sea of white, background. While I like minimalist style, this somehow feels too minimal, to the point that it almost feels incomplete. True, the site does use some color, but it doesn't really save it from its pitfalls.
The navigation is placed on a blue bar that runs across the full length of the rectangle.
When I click on the first button called "info", a red bar slides out with the following sentence: "MK12 is a full-service lateral hyperthreaded tactical design and research bureau." Sounds like they were trying to be humorous and witty, which is never a good thing to do because you either are or not. Meanwhile, it at this point it is still unclear what the company does. It is only the "design" part in the sentence that gives me a vague clue as well as the "reel" section in the menu, which indicates that we should be able to navigate to a video show case. I click on it, and, oh man, a pop-up box! How I dislike those. It automatically starts to play the showreel.
The next section is the "work" section which is not easy to navigate. It has too many sub-sections and it is easy to be confused. It showcases the studio's best work over the years and I like how it's presented in the form of thumbnail pictures that you're able to click on. However, if the work you're trying to view is another video, be prepared to see another pop-up window!!
Next in the menu is the 'news' section which I thought was strange placement in the navigation bar, since conventionally I would have expected the 'news' section to be either somewhere close to the 'info' section or on the home page. Same goes for the 'clients' list which is the last section after the 'shop'. I would have preferred it to be closer to the news and info sections because it logical to put them there, since it would create a better understanding of the studio and its identity. The 'shop' seems more like a 'just for fun' section and feels rather pointless and annoying. It has a set of links indicating the different categories and all of them redirect you to one site being their official online store.
Overall a very disappointing experience. The website is badly designed both technically and aesthetically and it doesn't serve its primary purpose which is to promote and showcase the studio in the best possible light. The site was hard to navigate, was vague, some sections took a while to load and importantly, the infamous MK12 brilliance was notably absent from their website's design. It was absolutely lacking an identity.
It is a shame when a studio of MK12's calibre cannot promote themselves properly.
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