The Unexpected Journey to My First Product
“Often, I find what I am looking for in the cracks. In the dirt. In the uneven surface. It’s not because I sat down, followed some steps and planned the perfect product. It was by accident. Not by careful design”
Concept artwork representing the early, unexpected journey to Mongrel Logic’s first product; the Signature Cap.
I have always wanted my own business. I’m inspired by creativity and art. I’ve always been an artist but never saw it as a profession. I got caught up in corporate and confidence got lost. I’ve started and failed a few businesses, like previous blogs. I have wanted to be everything from a vet to an astronaut. While picking turnips and taking ballet lessons.
Knowing the ‘don’t want’ before the ‘want’
When I started the blog; I didn’t know what I wanted to write, but I discovered what I didn’t want to write. I knew I wanted to make products eventually, but I didn’t want to make products that would end up in landfill. I didn’t want to just be out there making noise on social media trying to compete for attention. Hype is not my thing. Lemmings. Realising what I didn’t want to do, I began experimenting with different approaches.
MacGyver-ing my way through my business’ first year
I threw the rules out. There was no SEO in the beginning. Nothing. Then I gradually started incorporating which rules were for me. I grew in consistency…more or less. When it was less, I was behind the scenes figuring it all out, planning, strategizing, calculating, plotting. Forgetting to take pictures for social media. Learning and growing.
Pivot, Pivot!
What has been key is changing direction when something didn’t feel right. I was still trying to find what “it” was when I came up with the caps. But what started as a print on demand idea for a side hustle ended with me designing a cap that only a highly skilled atelier can make. Even after this, I still spent time messing around with other ideas before I was able to recognise it for what it was and focus in on it. I was almost done with designing the cap but still trying to develop a Manifesto for buildings giving back energy. I don’t know shit about energy, anthropology or infrastructure. But I do know about caps, design and fashion.
Product design by accident
Often, I find what I am looking for in the cracks. In the dirt. In the uneven surface. It’s not because I sat down, followed some steps and planned the perfect product. It was by accident. Not by careful design.
Ok, now it’s being carefully designed but the birth was completely ‘winged’ into existence.
One small cap, one giant leap in development
The products I develop will always have a real-world benefit attached to it. The goal is to build something completely regenerative. That has been my modus operandi from day one, even without a product. We need new businesses that work differently. This is an ongoing personal battle and something I am working to define.
I don’t have it all figured out, but I do have caps, so it’s probably okay. Looking back, I’ve learned that embracing uncertainty and following my instinct led me to create something meaningful. If you’re on a similar path, remember it’s okay not to have all the answers, sometimes the best ideas come from unexpected places.
This Got Out of Hand: How a One-Month Website Move Became a Beast of a Business
Somewhere between “I don’t know what I’m talking about” and “I think I designed a cap”: I created a beast.
Concept artwork symbolising Mongrel Logic growing from a small blog into a full design studio.
I’m back baby!
Remember when I said this would take a month?
Yeah…try three. But it’s not because I ghosted. It’s because the tiny thing I thought I was doing decided to grow teeth.
I was just planning on moving website platforms, moving my domain, I have reasons.
Since then, things have escalated. Fast. Somewhere between “I don’t know what I’m talking about” and “I think I designed a cap”: I created a beast.
It's not just a cap. I’m now thinking about ateliers, military embroiders or Japanese, maybe even an upholsterer. All in the pursuit of what might be the coolest cap ever made.
Sorry I took so long…
The timeline blew up. But so did the dream. What started as a blog shuffle is now pointing towards building regenerative, limited, luxury products that actually mean something.
Why I Named it that: The Unexpected Story Behind My Brand
After years of starting blogs then abandoning them; I finally came up with the name The Pavement Special when planning blog number five.
The Pavement Special Logo designed by Kerryn Hewitt
This is the story about how my brand names came to be. How a solo, self-discovery voyage turned into a design studio. It’s also an example of why doing something is better than doing nothing.
What’s with the name?
After years of starting blogs then abandoning them; I finally came up with the name The Pavement Special when planning blog number five. A pavement special is South African slang for a mongrel dog. I’ve always found it funny because I identified. That’s a bit like me.
The Pavement Special was born
I chose The Pavement Special because I needed a place to talk about anything and everything until I figured out what I was making or doing, so it seemed appropriate.
I had no idea what the blog was about. I didn’t bother with SEO at all for the first year, I just wrote whatever I wanted or thought I should write. I had two starting points. I can write (ish), and I can draw (hmm). Everything else was in the dark. I’ve felt like a pavement special my whole life. I decided to own it.
I had no idea that I would be getting puppies shortly after, who were, coincidentally, mongrels.
Mongrel Logic and Mongrel Studio soon followed.
After a year of writing I finally planned my first product off the back of a dog attack. Sounds worse than it was, I was trying to process it and deal with two extremely anxious dogs when I thought of my signature design.
None of this was planned, it was discovered in the moment.
When I wrote my first blog article, I thought it might be a blog about helping spouses of partners with PTSD. Turns out, I really hate talking about my problems. I’m more… solution oriented as a person. I tried writing reviews, I wrote about things I’d seen but after I came up with the cap, I wrote about business. That’s when everything changed. That was roughly six months ago.
Welcome to The Pavement Special, a blog about my brand Mongrel Logic and my design studio, Mongrel Studio.
If you had asked me two years ago if I would be sitting here doing this, I would have told you, you were crazy. I planned to do the blog, but I went in blind. I was going stir crazy thinking about it and I had to start just doing it. The hardest part of that has been spotting the patterns in my own mongrel madness to discover what I was making. Now? I’ve designed a cap I cannot wait to wear. What started as a humble blog and…really me thinking out loud, has turned into a signature edition premium cap.