Morla Design created a series of exhibition announcements for the CCAC Institute, one of San Francisco's newest experimental art venues. The experimental typography reflects the nature of the art shown and creates a recognizable identity for the CCAC Institute.

SA: Last month, when I was in San Francisco for an AIGA lecture, you were very gracious and asked me over for dinner at 10 p.m. on a school night. The house you and Nilus (Nilus De Matran, Jennifer’s husband) designed is another example of your sensibility. I’ve heard that graphic designers make the worst clients for architects. Spouses come in second. You had both. What was the idea behind the house? How did your work influence the space?

JM: It was a wonderful collaboration. Nilus can work on a limited budget and make it look extraordinary. The interior is a juxtaposition of modern elements (floor to ceiling windows, concrete walls) with classical details (stone fireplace, maple floors), and the unexpected (roses taped on the living room wall). I had the roses created for a photo shoot I did with Matthew Rolston. I brought the roses home, had a dinner party the following night, broke out the Scotch tape, and had my guests tape the roses to the wall.

SA: Tell me about something you’ve done recently that really excites you. Remember children may be reading this.

JM: As you know, I had wanted to change the focus of Morla Design for a while and concentrate on creating work for arts organizations and educational institutions. When Design Within Reach offered me the creative director position, I knew this opportunity would allow me to implement this change. My studio also recently finished a large-format poster series for the postgraduate literature department at Stanford University. This was a perfect project—or more specifically, a perfect client—that gave us the opportunity to formulate a conceptual solution that communicates the essence of a literature lecture series.

SA: How did the creative director position at DWR come to you?

JM: Rob Forbes, the founder of Design Within Reach, and I have been business associates for many years. We love to talk design and have enjoyed previous working relationships based on our design interests. A few years back he asked me to design a tabloid targeted to the architectural design community. It was a great experience. DWR is one of the few design-driven companies I know of. Strategic marketing goals are based on design education and communication. What attracted me to their offer was the potential of the job—to create a design language for DWR’s over 50 stores, make that language a dynamic web experience, and enhance the catalog by infusing it with authorship and design history. In addition, I am involved in product development and the launch of all new brands. But my quintessential “kid in the candy store” moment is having access to the archives of Le Corbusier, Eames, and Nelson.

SA: How are the challenges of being an in-house department different from running a design firm?

JM: The challenge is to make an in-house department run like a design firm. Instituting primary contacts, sign-off procedures, production schedules, you know the drill. But most importantly, creating a system that allows enough time for designers to design.

SA: Seeing that you have so much free time, are you still teaching?

JM: I have been teaching Senior Design Thesis for the past decade at California College of the Arts (CCA). I also serve on the Thesis Committee. Why am I still at the school? The talent of our students consistently humbles me. I learn from them perhaps more than they learn from me. And because I hope that I can let them discover how design can tell a story.

SA: What’s been your proudest achievement professionally?

JM: There are many: Teaching for 12 years at CCA, being included in the upcoming edition of The History of Graphic Design, being a part of the permanent collections of MoMA and SFMoMA, and having a solo exhibition at SFMoMA and DDD Gallery in Japan.

SA: And this is a tricky one to pinpoint, but do you have a favorite piece?

This poster was used to publicize San Francisco as the U.S. bid city for the summer 2012 Olympic Games. The radiating lines, bright color palette, and posterized dot screens are a modern take on San Francisco musci posters from teh ’60S.

SA: Community has always been one of your special interests. We first met when I asked you to come to Los Angeles to do a lecture. You’ve been one of the best supporters of AIGA for years. Why does community matter to you? Does it really help anyone professionally?

JM: Community is our collective voice. It provides a forum for the discourse of ideas and the avenues to share those ideas outside of our community. My involvement with AIGA has been, and continues to be, one of the most enriching aspects of my professional life.

SA: Are you involved with any other organizations?

JM: I am on the Board of SFMoMA: Architecture and Design, as well as New Langton Arts, a progressive art venue that promotes both emerging and more established conceptual artists. By being involved in promoting architecture and design at the Museum, I hope that future generations will have the opportunity to experience their own design epiphany. My support of art organizations is more selfish. I get thoroughly inspired by the intersection of art and design mediums.

SA: How do you stay inspired and keep from burning out?

JM: I go to conceptual art galleries and performances to keep from burning out—Peter Brooks Mahabarata at Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), Zaha Hadid’s architecture, John Baldassari’s art are forms of inspiration. All make the ordinary extraordinary.

SA: What’s your favorite cocktail?

JM: As a Northern California girl, a good glass of Pinot. Being an East Coast girl ... there’s nothing like a gin and tonic on a warm summer evening.

SA: Favorite book?

JM: I tend to like fiction laced with a touch of the existential. Ian McEwan is a current fave, while Joan Didion did it for me back in the early ’70s. Orlando by Virginia Wolfe is exquisite. But if you’re looking for a good dose of pure existential melancholy, read Kobo Abe’s Woman in the Dunes.

SA: Favorite shoes?

JM: Any shoe that gives good toe cleavage.