Form With Function

Since 1997, Masamichi Udagawa and Sigi Moeslinger of New York City-based Antenna Design have been finding a balance between art and commerce, public and private, and information and objects.

The beginning of their careers involved clashes with businesspeople and design teams when neither Udagawa or Moeslinger could communicate their ideas in the boardroom.

In an article from BusinessWeek:

Udagawa thought they didn’t get it—and told them so. But then he began taking business classes in the evenings to better understand his colleagues’ perspective and to learn to communicate with them. “‘How do we make money?’ is the obvious common language between business and design,” says Udagawa. Laughing, he adds: “It took me quite a while to understand; I learned the hard way.”

Now, with their experience and MBA, they can justify their decisions with businesspeople. That ability may have singlehandedly allowed them to grow from a little studio to a corporate design firm.