Testing organic growth, not just organic cotton.

Close-up photograph of my dirt-covered hand placing small marbles on asphalt, symbolising starting from zero and organic growth.

Part of my early strategy is to test organic growth. Our small social accounts have only just found their full vocabulary, and testing has started.

Instagram stats are not a healthy place to live in.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s fun. I’m up for the challenge. But, playing a medium-to-long-term game while looking at daily stats is a bit like watching an hourglass fill, one grain of sand at a time. That part is dull as anything. Luckily, not tied to my personal sense of power or validation, but absolutely tied to planning and upcoming projects.

A Game of Follows.

Sorry…couldn’t help myself. Why am I being such a dick about doing it the hard way? Well, I can’t fully test the financial sustainability of the system without starting with zero.  It’s a lot to explain in a short blog, but part of what I am testing is the zero-start-up (or near zero, let’s face it) cost philosophy as well. But I did start the blog, before all of this was born, with nothing. Free documents, free versions, free everything.

How am I avoiding burnout?

I’ve planned. Most of the end of 2025 was spent documenting, taking pictures of our prints and garments in real life. I have endless content to use; the hard part is putting it together in a way that is legible.

I’m not so good with patience.

I wish there were another two of me. But we’d need to be able to tell each other apart so one of them is a cyclops and the other has snakes for hair. Read into that, what you will. I just mean sheer workload and ability to make time to be able to separate myself from it for long enough to have a good idea. That’s tough.

Speaking of good ideas.

I’m currently working on the latest design. I’ve been recording some of the process, not sure what I’ll share yet, but, fuck ja, if organic growth and slogging sounds familiar to you then join me why don’t you?  

Why we’re building the engine before the designer range.

Abstract hand-drawn black hole sketch representing time, gravity, and systems pulling inward, an early visual study tied to the foundations of Mongrel Logic.

Every brand would love to start with the hero product, the piece that looks like the brand. We do too, but for us that’s the destination, not the starting point.

This isn’t just about organic cotton.

It’s about organic growth. Everything you see here has been built without investors, without paid promotion and without shortcuts. Not because those things are inherently wrong, but because designing out waste is the backbone of how this business works. Including financial waste.

Proof of concept before expression.

Building the engine first has allowed us to test out the logic of the system early. Not just sustainability, but design language, production decisions and how the work is received. It’s also how early signals are built.
It’s a way to learn without burning capital, and to refine without panic. This is how the Designer range gets funded without debt, without rushed decisions, and without compromising the thing its meant to be.

Starting at the “wrong” end.

Most brands build authorship and architecture after they launch, often because the first product has been funded. As it stands today, this little business has no debt, and that’s an intentional constraint. It means doing things in a different order. At times the harder order.

Mongrel Logic.

There’s a reason this business is called Mongrel Logic. I am Mongrel Logic.
It’s frustrating to work with systems that reward speed over thought.  But it’s also incredibly effective at testing whether something can hold its shape.

Time is part of the design.

Time.
And we’re right back to the first blog and where this all started. Time to build the engine. Time to see what holds. Time.
The designer range is coming. Not as a gamble, but the next logical phase.

On a personal note. I’m not good at time. I’d rather walk than wait to catch the bus. I’ll get there faster.  

A Carnival of Creation.

Black and white photo of the studio desk.

This is what this has felt like.
In a good way…And now I have Dimmu Borgir stuck in my head.

Acrobatics aside…

(Carnival.) I forgot to put worms out for the birds. Ah well, tomorrow.
There is something freeing about being this early. No one’s watching, really. Which makes developing clarity a lot more fun because there is zero external pressure. Nothing breaks, you know?

That doesn’t mean that fuck-ups are never a threat.

I have sat here till 2am fixing errors, only to notice at 11am, that 2am is no time to bloody fix errors. But it does mean that it’s basically me, the dogs and the cat that know about it. Phew.

There is no time like now.

Most of the time now is spent removing, not adding. Which is strangely much harder to do. In practical terms. Less is more but knowing which less is less is much harder to do.

Circus Tent is up.

Oops swapped continents. But it’s fully erect. (Clears throat.)

Bally, bally, bally.

All this circus talk. Step right up. What’s inside?