Design Gurus Share Go-To Gadgets

By Reena Jana
December 2, 2011

Milana Kosovac & Tobias Lundquist

Milana Kosovac & Tobias Lundquist (photos courtesy of Miloby Ideasystem)

It’s rare to meet a creative team that's cooler than Milana Kosovac and Tobias Lundquist.

Together, they’re the founders and partners of Miloby Ideasystem, a design agency in New York that counts among its clients hip brands such as Vice and fashion label Theory, as well as corporations such as Verizon and E-Trade. The company has also worked with the biggest names in advertising, including Saatchi & Saatchi and J. Walter Thompson. They consult across industries on digital, branding, packaging, print, and architectural projects, from photo shoots to content strategy to eye-catching boxes and bottles as well as large-scale physical installations.

And then there’s the most creative partnership of all: Kosovac and Lundquist are also parents to two sons, age 2 and 6. At the end of the day, and on weekends, the very down-to-earth pair can be found at a Central Park playground with their boys, climbing jungle gyms or playing catch.

The couple’s backgrounds make for a dynamic and versatile firm. Kosovac has degrees in economics and architecture, and has worked with leading architects such as Dominique Perrault in Paris and Frank Gehry in Los Angeles. Lundquist has worked with top architects as well—in the Los Angeles office of Daniel Libeskind and the New York office of Skidmore Owings & Merrill (SOM), and himself has won the prestigious Young Architects Prize.

Miloby

One of Miloby's latest projects is a summer house for a young family on an island in the Archepelago in Sweden.

The pair talked with us their about work and their favorite gadgets and gear for themselves and their families. (Keep these ideas in mind for your own holiday shopping.)

The Inside Source: Your work involves a wide range of projects and industries. Does the work ever cross over?

Milana Kosovac: Absolutely. That’s where our inspiration comes from.

Tobias Lundquist: Revisiting and rescaling concepts are useful practices for us; it allows ideas we have about design to mature and evolve with time and be enriched by new influencers. For example, we developed this “flower bomb” concept that informed the graphics for a consumer product brand. Later we revised the same idea but scaled it up to the size of Times Square and translated into a different medium for an urban installation project, which was a proposal we did for the Department of Transportation [in New York]. One was to be experienced in a grocery store on a box of detergent; the other from a window of a skyscraper.

The Inside Source: What are the devices you can't live without, in terms of being in touch as business partners...and as parents?

Milana Kosovac: The camera phone has to be most my important tool. Casting models on the street, showing clients samples... recording the ceaseless inspiration you get from living in New York City. Then in terms of tools comes my laser pointer, a Hilti laser “measuring tape” and digital calipers. I also have a new 15.5” MacBook Pro and a [Mac Pro] Tower at my desk.

Tobias Lundquist: I don’t sketch much, but instead rely on 3D modeling software to test ideas, I would feel lost and uncomfortable doing anything without it, the only drawback is that I have to lug around a laptop—which is not a Mac; it’s a Sony Vaio—and which is always too heavy.

Miloby

Miloby has worked on branding projects for companies like Smirnoff, Nickelodeon and Andrew Weil.

The Inside Source: As parents who are obviously very tech-savvy, what gadgets do you share with your kids?

Milana Kosovac: The boys received an iPad from my mother as a “learning tool”... which only makes sense coming from someone who has been a software developer since the early 1970’s. They navigate it like pros. Watching their little hands do the opening, sliding and clicking of apps is fascinating. Not sure they are different from their peers.

The Inside Source: And what low-tech toys do your kids love?

Milana Kosovac: Lego. Lego. Lego and Lego, mixed in with wooden subway trains that the MTA puts out and Brio classics.

Miloby

The company's design work ranges from package design to print work and corporate communications.

The Inside Source: Are there any "low tech" or vintage "toys" that you each love?

Milana Kosovac: My guilty pleasure is glass. Murano colored glass from the 1960s. And Swedish crystal. I swear my beer tastes better in its specifically designed Riedel glass.

Tobias Lundquist: I have had a Swiss watch for over 10 years that I grown very attached to—an Omega SpeedMaster Broad Arrow. What’s fascinating about this piece is the fact that it tells time rather well, and the watch itself never seem to get old. By comparison, almost every other device quickly looks or feel dated (i.e. cell phone, car etc.) and soon makes you itch for a replacement. But not this watch; it defies the gravity of consumerism and manages to always look fresh. This is the essence of timeless design, and if you appreciate this concept it helps you to raise your own bar as a designer.

The Inside Source: Do you ever shop or research on eBay?

Milana Kosovac: eBay has served us better in the other direction. We have sold lots of great camera bodies, lenses and modeling equipment on the site.

Tobias Lundquist: [I shop for] unlocked cell phones, camera lenses and specialized architectural model pieces... And then I look for cars that I would buy if I didn’t live in New York City.

The Inside Source: You were trained as architects but now work in a spectrum of fields. How have your architecture backgrounds influenced other types of creative work that you do?

Milana Kosovac: Architects are trained to approach the creative process objectively, to frame the discussion within a theoretical model. All that focus on critical thinking has served us well, particularly in regards to our work with brands. It has shaped how we shepherd clients through projects that most find uncomfortable, mostly because they are typically nonlinear.

As you can imagine, it can be not only practical but also fun to geek out with Miloby Ideasystem. Here’s a list of the gadgets and gear the founders are using both in the office and at home.

Apple Mac Pro Tower

(buy it now price, $782.10)

Kosovac lists her Apple Mac Pro Tower as an indispensable tech tool. It’s necessary for running powerful design software.
Digital Caliper

(buy it now price, $25)

For precise measurements on design projects, Kosovac swears by digital calipers.
Hilti Laser Rangefinder

(buy it now price, $273.21)

Instead of using a low-tech measuring tape to gauge distances for architectural projects or fashion photo shoots, Kosovac relies on a much more high-tech laser rangefinder.
Canon Camera Lens

(buy it now price, $386.99)

Lundquist likes to research and shop on eBay for camera lenses. He also sells them on the site.
HTC MyTouch Android Cell Phone

(buy it now price, $99.99)

Lundquist says one consistent eBay purchase over the years has been unlocked cell phones.
Lego Yellow Wig & Hair Salon

(buy it now price, $299.99)

Kosovac and Lundquist are not only partners in Miloby Ideasystem, but also are parents of two young boys who adore Legos. This sculptural office building kit would also satisfy Kosovac and Lundquist’s interest in architecture, as both have worked with top architects, including Frank Gehry and Daniel Libeskind, respectively.
iPad 2

(buy it now price, $750)

In the Kosovac-Lundquist household, the kids (and parents) consider the iPad both a toy and a tool of choice.
Vintage Murano Glass Bowl

(buy it now price, $24.99)

Kosovac’s “weakness” is Murano glass from the 1960s, which she collects.
15-inch MacBook Pro

(buy it now price, $2,849)

A handy MacBook Pro laptop travels with Kosovac to client meetings and back home after picking up the kids from daycare and school.
Omega Speedmaster Broad Arrow Watch

(buy it now price, $3,190)

Having owned one of these classic timepieces for a decade, Lundquist still relies on this Omega watch, which he says never looks or feels dated, even as other gadgets do.
Reidel Glass

(buy it now price, $19.99)

Kosovac says that beverages taste different (better!) when served in her favorite crystal vessels.
Sony Vaio Laptop

(buy it now price, $439)

Although Kosovac is a Mac person, Lundquist uses a PC. A Sony Vaio to be exact, on which he runs 3D–modeling design software.