Hi the MLE,

Well, well, well, look what I found in my brother’s basement this summer:  the MOTHandRUST catalogue!  Can you believe that it was well over ten years ago now that we designed this?

A lot of people ask me how we came up with the name for our studio.  So I tell them the story…  We met at design school in Vancouver and became friends right away.  We learned that we work well together so we teamed up to do our grad project, an intense project that takes the entire final year to complete. We chose to study how graphic design, considered to be mostly disposable, may age with time. We chose to brand a fictional clothing label to explore our subject.

The end result included hangtags made with seed paper, that when planted, would grow wild flowers…

A billboard, that when stained with the elements, would reveal the logo…

A window display with a sweater with a light inside, that clothes moths could eat, revealing an interesting t-shirt at the end…

Etc etc…

Remember we had to contact the biology department of Simon Fraser University and convince them to hatch the moths for us?

We also created a fashion catalogue using a light sensitive paper, that with time, would slowly turn completely black.  And I must say, it has worked - the catalogue only contains ghostlike images, and the pages have beautiful stains as well.  I’m pleased to see the tin box has rusted rather nicely too (image above).

Anyway, we were flipping through thesauruses and dictionaries in the studio one afternoon, going over dozens of names to call our clothing label, when you said, “Moth and Rust!”  Then later, we did a brainstorming of names to call our studio, and you said, “Moth and Rust?” It just made sense.

Suzan xx

Hello the MLE,

Hope you're doing well and that the snow is gone in Stockholm.  It's been surprisingly nice and dry all year here in London (which is good for our new roof!) and it's starting to feel a bit warmer.

Probably one of the reasons we are such good friends is that we are both nerds.  I sometimes wonder how different my life would be if after my Psychology degree I continued on to med school, as I had prepared for, and became a psychiatrist...  It's funny how a decision made so many years ago can have such a big effect on your life.  Anyway, I still read Psychology books today, though way less nerdy, and sometimes even flaky, ones.

One of my latest finds is the Five Minute Journal.  I've kept a journal regularly since I was 15, but in the past two years I have almost stopped writing completely - so the "five minute" part sounded appealing.  And it really does take only five minutes, it's super simple.

You take one minute out of your day to be grateful for three things.  This is important, as in our culture, it is so easy to want, want, want.  The thinking is that if you appreciate what you have, you will be happier with your life as-is, and happier overall.

Then you take one minute to list three things that would make the day great.  I find this helps prioritize my day.

At the end of the day, you take two minutes to reflect on of three great things that happened, and three things that could have made today better.  I've been doing this for two weeks now, and I've been seeing the same "could have been better" item come up quite often, which has been rather insightful.  Hmmm, need to do something about that...

I skip the "daily affirmations" bit because it's a bit corny for me personally, so I guess that makes it more of a Four Minute Journal.   Anyway, I'll keep going with it for another few months and will let you know how it works out.  So far, I like taking the time out to think like this for a few minutes each day, so I reckon that may stick, though the things I think about may evolve...

From one nerd to another,

Suzan xx

 

emelie!

Our Bless book collection needs to be updated, another book is out. I still remember we went to their shop in Berlin years ago, it was such a hot humid day. Their shop was more of a gallery it seemed to me, as they really do blur the lines between fashion/art/design more than most.

suzan xx

Happy Friday MLE! Noticed this on the blogs today...

What does the future hold for the D&AD Annual?

For almost 50 years the D&AD have been printing their massive annual. This year the debate is up again: how much longer will this be available in printed form?

Some pros include permanence: a book can be around for a very long time; some pieces in the annual view best in print form; tradition/sentimentality...

Some cons include relevance: with ffffound, Flickr, blogs, etc the annual is no longer the best source to access the very best in advertising and design; audio, interactive, etc work do not view best in print form; environmental implications of printing and shipping a big book like this...

In my humble opinion, I think D&AD will have to make a digital version of the annual at some point, whether its next year or in ten years I don't know, but hopefully sooner rather than later. As for the fate of the printed book, I'd like to see it always be available as an option for those willing to pay for it. However, the D&AD is in a position where it should be setting a better precedent - it should be printed in the UK and as sustainably as possible.

Et voila. I know, I know, this sort of talk always makes me a bit sad too...

Suzan