Morcos Key is a Brooklyn-based design studio collaborating with arts & cultural institutions, non-profits, and commercial enterprises in North America and the Middle East. We translate our clients’ stories into visual systems that demonstrate how thoughtful conversation, and formal expression make for impactful design.
Services:
Strategy
Branding and Visual Identity
Art Direction
Editorial Design
Signage and Wayfinding
Exhibition Design
Photography
Latin and Arabic Type Design
Jon(athan) Key is an artist, designer, and writer originally from Seale, Alabama. After receiving his BFA from RISD, Jon began his design career at Grey Advertising in NYC before moving on to work with such clients and institutions as HBO, Nickelodeon, The Public Theater, and the Whitney Museum. As an educator, Jon has taught at MICA, Parsons, CCA, and currently teaches at Cooper Union. Jon is also a Co-Founder and Design Director at Codify Art, a multidisciplinary collective dedicated to creating, producing, supporting, and showcasing work by artists of color, particularly women, queer, and trans artists of color. Jon was selected for Forbes 30 under 30 Art and Style list for 2020 and was the Frank Staton Chair in Graphic Design at Cooper Union 2018-2019. jon@morcoskey.com
Wael Morcos is a graphic designer and type designer from Beirut, Lebanon. Upon receiving his BA in Graphic Design from Notre Dame University (Lebanon), he spent three years developing identities and Arabic-Latin bilingual typefaces, in addition to working in print and exhibition design. Wael received his MFA from RISD in 2013, after which he moved to New York and worked with several studios in the city before founding Morcos Key. Wael has been featured in Print Magazine’s 15 under 30, was named a Young Gun by the Art Directors Club and an Ascender by the Type Directors Club. Wael@morcoskey.com
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Selected Clients
Nike
Cooper Hewitt
Bloomberg Businessweek
Brown University CAC
Yale University School of Art
Cherry Lane Theater
The Public Theater
Penguin Random House
Commercial Type
The Tenth
Selected Awards
Ascenders 2018
Type Directors Club
Art Directors Club
Brno Biennale
D&AD
How Magazine
Print Magazine
Communication Arts
News
Black Visionaries Impact Award
Our studio Morcos Key has been selected as recipient of the Impact Grant Recipient of the Black Design Visionaries award. We're very proud of Jon and his unwavering commitment to creating work that comes from the heart.
In June of this year Instagram and the Brooklyn Museum launched this program to empower, community builders and visionary designers who are creating innovative expressions of Black culture. The Impact Award is given to a Black lead design studio and comes with a $75,000 grant.
A big thank you to everyone who believed in us and supported us through work, mentorship and advice.
Center for Book Arts Master Faculty Fellow
The exhibition Morcos Key Makes Reads takes viewers through a selection of print materials: branding stories, type treatments, collaborations, commissions, and personal projects. These books are displayed alongside selections from our personal library, demonstrating the conceptual and aesthetic influence on our process and creative practice.
Saudi Super Graphics
Together with ModelCraft Group, we created bespoke super graphics celebrating Saudi Arabia's 90th national day. Six chapters share Saudi culture, history, language and customs adorn the four towers in Digital City in Riyadh. This project is a collaboration with ModelCraft Group, ArtVue Worldwide and Saber.
Emanuel Nine Memorial
We collaborated with Michael Bierut's team from Pentagram to design a typeface for the Emanuel Nine Memorial. The typeface and memorial honors the lives and memories of the victims’ through curved stone benches encircling a marble fountain engraved with their names. The hand-painted inscriptions on the stained-glass windows of the church served as inspiration.
MTV VMA Campaign Taking Over the Subway
We were part of a group of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ artists that took over the NYC subway station at Brooklyn’s Atlantic Avenue terminal at Barclays Center for the MTV VMA campaign. The collage pieces are abstract deconstructed portraits and the typography were in Arabic and conveyed a message of hope and resilience.
Beirut in my Heart
On August 4th, a terrible explosion rocked Beirut, causing at least US$15 billion in property damage, and leaving an estimated 300,000 people homeless. In response, we created a blanket with the lettering "Beirut in my Heart" to fundraise for the victims. We raised $20,000 in one week, thank you for everyone who purchased a blanket. 100% of the proceeds are donated to the Lebanese Red Cross and Helem, the Beirut-based LGBTIQ organization.
Lyon Arabic Text Featured on Print
Lyon Arabic, the typeface designed by Wael Morcos and Khajag Apelian and released by Commerial type has been featured on Print.
IBM Plex Arabic Wins a Pencil
IBM Plex Arabic , designed by Wael Morcos and Khajag Apelian just picked up a Pencil in Typography section at the DandAD London based design competition.
Forbes's List
Jon Key has made it onForbes' 30 Under 30 Art & Style list. Congratulations Jon!
Otis College of Art and Design
Jon and Wael will be Designers in Residence at Otis in Los Angeles California from June 23rd till July 8th participating in the Art Book Fair, leading a branding workshop with the MFA students and speaking at the MFA lecture series.
Designer-in-Residence
The Morcos Key Designer-in-Residence is a unique confluence of design work and design play aimed at designers seeking to combine experience in a small studio with a furthering of their personal practice. Read More
Ascenders 2018
Wael was selected by the Type Directors Club (TDC) for the Ascenders competition, a portfolio based contest which recognizes the work of designers who are 35 years of age and under for their remarkable achievement in typography, type design, and lettering. Award ceremony and exhibition will be held on August 15th at the Type Directors Club in NYC.
Arabic Lettering Workshop
Wael will be giving an Arabic Lettering workshop today at the New York Times. This workshop will focus on Square Kufi, an abstract and playful way to get familiar with the Arabic script.
TYPO Berlin
Jon Key will be speaking at TYPO Berlin on May 17th, 2018. TYPO 2018 will explore the mechanisms of the digital transformation and address the role of design in that process.
UX Beirut
Wael Morcos will be speaking at UX Beirut May 11, 2018, Lebanon’s first global user experience event. Wael will showcase several projects detailing how story telling unfolds through planning a narrative arc, conveying personality and sharing emotions and creating participatory experiences online and IRL
Frank Stanton Chair
Jon Key will be teaching at Cooper Union in the Spring 2018 as the acting Frank Stanton chair in Graphic Design. Jon will be teaching experimental narrative to Juniors and Seniors in the Art school.
Graphik Arabic
Graphik Arabic was awarded the First Prize in its category at the Granshan competition for non-Latin typefaces and was selected for the Communication Arts Typography Annual 2018.
TDC
Jon Key will be Judging the Type Director Club 64 annual competition. The Type Directors Club is the leading international organization whose purpose is to support excellence in typography, both in print and on screen.
Typographics
Jon Key is speaking at the Typographics conference in NYC. On June 17th Jon will talk about design as a means to amplify and empower communities with a focus on Queer and Trans communities of color.