Mark Wilkie of Martha’s Vineyard Made
Welcome to this month's edition of Maker of the Month! Each month, we highlight one of our Member-Makers so you can learn more about their background, their craft, and their creative process.
In a small home office, Mark Wilkie sits at his computer. If one had to guess he has his email open, he’s dialed into some sort of design program like Adobe Illustrator and he’s hard at work with fonts, shapes, photos, colors and more. One of his clients (although we consider him a full time team member) is Martha's Vineyard Made, a locally owned business which is on a much smaller scale than some of the work he’s used to but nonetheless just as important to him.
Mark got his start with his first job post-grad at the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, MA working in their marketing department as a graphic designer. A year later Mark took an entry-level production designer job at an Ad agency in Boston (Arnold Worldwide) where he saw a wide range of high-profile client work from brands like McDonalds, Carnival Cruise, Citizens Bank and Jack Daniels. When asked what his biggest inspiration was to get into design, he said it was his mother who is also a graphic designer. He adds, “to be honest, just about everything inspires me. I find it very hard to not look at something and question how it was made or designed and its purpose. So, curiosity is mostly what has inspired me to be a designer.”
Shortly after landing his first big gig, the economy tanked and Mark spent more time freelancing. Once things picked back up, Mark took a position at Hill Holliday, a well-known Boston based agency where he spent time working on the Bank of America sponsorship account, creating campaigns for the MLB, NFL, (RED), The Special Olympics World Games and even branded the BofA Winter Village at Bryant Park, a seasonal skating rink in Midtown Manhattan. In 2015 Mark left general advertising for a change of pace and to work for an experiential marketing agency, George P. Johnson (GPJ) where he still is today.
So how did Mark end up at Martha’s Vineyard Made? Since 2009 he has been well versed in freelancing, picking up jobs and focusing on logo design and branding. But it wasn't until the Pandemic (2020) when Mark’s longtime college friend connected him with MVM and he joined as the in-house graphic designer in the early stages, working day in and day out to bring the concept to life alongside Rachel and the rest of the team.
It began with the logo. Mark says “the inspiration for MVM’s branding was to keep it simple and let the makers and their products be the focus. A logo lockup that is easily recognizable and flexible to use on any medium (the MVM totem). A calming color palette that evokes the seasonality of the island. And illustrated scenes that highlight all 6 of the island's towns and their recognizable landmarks. The inspiration has been the island and the makers that live, work and create on it.”
As Martha’s Vineyard Made continues to grow, so does Mark’s work. Since creating our totem with the Aquinnah Cliffs in the background, Mark has designed five others representing each Island town. He draws inspiration from classic island scenes such as the pink gingerbread cottage in Oak Bluffs, sprawling hills through West Tisbury’s farmland, Dutcher Dock in Menemsha (Chilmark), The Old Sculpin Gallery whale tale in Edgartown and the classic harbor in Vineyard Haven. Each one features the MVM totem.
Since designing the logos, we have applied them to exclusive pint glasses, Christmas tree ornaments, candles, wooden gift boxes and more! The candles are hand poured by MV 02557 (formally Vineyard Wick & Bath) using soy wax, available in two sizes. The pint glasses are custom etched, sold as a set or separately.
Some other fun and notable freelance projects Mark has also worked on are album designs for a NH based classical record label, a small leather goods company based out of San Francisco, a brewery in metro Boston and very recently, apparel design for a tuna fishing vessel on National Geographic’s Wicked Tuna show.
When Mark isn’t at his desk designing, he spends time with his family. He has two sons Cole (4) and Mason (2) and an amazing wife Kelly. Recently he’s spent time on home projects and renovations, but for leisure he enjoys snowboarding (which he’s done for over 20 years) in the Winter and surfcasting for striped bass in the Summer–sometimes on Martha’s Vineyard!
As Martha’s Vineyard Made continues to grow, we hope that our meaningful MVM logo and merchandise capture what it means to be locally made and loved. All of our products can be found online and in-store! And know that when you’re supporting a small business such as ours, you’re supporting the livelihood of our incredible team members too!
