A panorama of the MK12 offices in Kansas City, Mo., was captured using a series of photographs taken over a short period of time that were later combined using computer software. MK12 co-founder Tim Fisher can be seen at right working on a project. The design collective recently completed titles and effects work for Quantum

MK12 is the name found on a type of airplane ejection seat.

It’s also the name of a garbage barge, a high-powered artillery weapon and the world’s first computer chess set.

But in terms of cultural impact, commercial success and sheer newsworthiness, the name MK12 is now most identified with a Kansas City design collective.

In certain ways the chess set, airplane and weapon could all serve as a metaphor for MK12. “But we’re probably most like the garbage barge because we travel around the world and carry our crap with us,” says Ben Radatz, one of the four primary partners in the operation.

The travel has been particularly intense during the last month. That’s due to MK12’s latest assignment: James Bond. The nine-person unit created the main title sequence and various other graphic elements for “Quantum of Solace,” the new Bond film that opens nationwide today.

The whole MK12 studio headed to London two weeks ago to attend a cast and crew screening.

“It was completely surreal,” says fellow MK12 partner Tim Fisher.

Yet once the projector began rolling, they were pleased with how the work turned out. There was no need to reach for an ejection seat.

“We were beating ourselves up for a couple weeks after we originally delivered it – as we do with any piece. Actually seeing it in the theater on film really warms it up. When it’s digital you can see every flaw,” Radatz says.

MK12 earned the chance to work on “Quantum of Solace” due to its relationship with the film’s director, Marc Forster, who utilized the team on his two previous pictures, “The Kite Runner” and “Stranger Than Fiction.”

Whereas those projects were done from a distance, “Quantum” was a bit more hands-on.

“We had a four-day shoot in London,” Radatz explains. “One day was for effects elements. Then there was female talent for two days. Then the fourth day was with Daniel.”

As in Daniel Craig.

“We’re not always star-struck – we’ve worked with celebrities in the past – so it wasn’t something like, ‘Hey, you’re Daniel Craig!’ But as soon as he walks out in his Bond suit, all the sudden you realize you’re not directing Daniel Craig; you’re directing James Bond.”

Radatz and Fisher describe the latest Bond actor as easy to work with and a master of the single take.

“There was one point during the shoot where he had his gun on his hip, and we told him to cock it and point it forward,” Radatz recalls. “He turns around to us and proceeds to give us this explanation of how a Walther (PPK) works, and you don’t want to offend the Walther’s fans. So we got this little lesson from James Bond.”

Secretive agents

The secret agent vibe is something MK12 has been refining since it formed in 2000 by five students who met at the Kansas City Art Institute.

Its base of operations at 17th and Holmes in Kansas City, Mo., is distinguished by a sign that states: Worldwide Ultraglobal International Top Secret Superheadquarters.

“All of our studios have been clubhouse-like,” Fisher says. (He notes the previous locale was “an old hotel that used to be a brothel during World War II.”)

Currently, MK12 is housed in a 6,500-square-foot warehouse that once was a machine shop. Visually, the offices showcase an eclectic combination of state-of-the-art hardware and superhero collectibles.

Four paintings of the company’s founders – who also include Jed Carter and Shaun Hamontree – dressed in western wear adorn the walls. (An original fifth founder, Matt Fraction, quit MK12 several years ago to become one of the most respected authors working in comic books and graphic novels. He is rumored to be involved with the “Iron Man 2” screenplay.)

What really distinguishes the building – other than the meeting room table that is made from a decommissioned airplane wing complete with MK12 hubcaps on its tires – is the huge area devoted to a green screen studio. Many of the top-secret effects are rendered in the domain, which is big enough to shoot a music video starring a symphony.

The collective itself is equally secretive. None of the members have specific job titles. Their projects are simply credited to the unified MK12.

They refuse to pose for a picture unless all nine members are present – which is rarely possible because the designers are out jetsetting on business.

Also, per MK12’s contract, they can’t provide any visual images or technical specifics relating to “Quantum” until six weeks after the film is released.

So to cut to the chase, what exactly does MK12 do?

“At the base level, we’re a design collective by whatever term you want to define ‘design’ as,” Radatz says of the group, responsible for a variety of short films, music videos and commercial work.

“We make things that move – that’s the most easy layman’s explanation,” Fisher adds.

While that is fairly vague/all-encompassing, Fisher admits there are a lot of things the collective is still learning on the job.

“We need an accountant at all times because I don’t think any of us can truly do any math. A number of us can deal with geometry, but algebraic thoughts, no. We don’t really know how to run a business either,” he says.

Radatz adds, “Sales is another part where we could use some help. We’re not good at the schmoozing part of it. We’re much better at keeping quiet and doing the work.”

KU connection

Heather Brantman is the lone female voice in the MK12 boys club.

“There’s an eight-way tie for who’s the most geekiest,” says Brantman, who graduated from Kansas University in 2006 with a degree in graphic arts.

“They’re like little boys at heart. They collect toys. We have toy guns here that we were using for mock pieces. They loved to pick them up and shoot them off in the middle of working.”

Brantman says because KU’s graphic design program has a reputation for putting in long hours, she amassed a “powerful portfolio” while at school.

After graduation, she turned down a batch of initial job offers to concentrate on trying to get her foot in the door at MK12. She first worked as a freelancer for the company and after six months was offered a job.

A self-described “huge action movie buff,” Brantman was thrilled to work on “Quantum.” She asserts her specialty is in fonts, and she helped create all those seen in the Bond movie.

Like her fellow staffers (John Baker, Teddy Dibble, Chad Perry and James Ramirez comprise the rest of the collective), she doesn’t have an actual job title at MK12. She reveals her business card simply reads “Badass.”

Brantman says the most common question she has to field when people discover where she works is, “Can I get a job?” She claims the company receives as many as 50 resumes a day.

“It’s a pretty tight-knit group. Everybody gets along really well,” she says.

Thus far, she admits, the industry has yet to approach MK12 with something the gang can’t figure out a way to do.

“They never underestimate us, but they underestimate the city we’re from a lot,” she says. “But that’s OK. It’s kind of our secret.”

Personal projects

Being based in a Secret Superheadquarters within a flyover state hasn’t secluded the group from professional accessibility or success.

“Psychologically it puts you in a different head space,” Radatz says of their K.C. locale. “Distance has a lot to do with it. We don’t find ourselves competing for the same jobs (as those in L.A. or New York). We don’t pull from the same pool of freelancers.”

Perhaps the location is part of the allure.

“MK12 has a reputation for beautiful graphic design and animation that is both unique and cutting-edge,” says Leslie McMinn, visual effects producer on “Quantum of Solace.”

“We love that it’s a small company with a really personal feel.”

In between the big studio productions, MK12 devotes time to working on its own projects, such as the acclaimed “The History of America.” This “psychedelic western space opera,” which pits cowboys against astronauts in a showdown for the landscape of America, debuted at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

The labor of love took four years to complete.

“We always tend to balance our ‘work’ work with our own work,” Fisher explains.

“That’s basically a residual from art school. When we all graduated or dropped out we kept collaborating with each other. When we started up the studio, we had no clients. We just kept making work. … We try to keep that same cyclical plan where we do our own work, which inspires us to go find work, and that work has some resonance with these would-be clients.”

As for MK12’s next project?

Well … that’s top-secret information.