Mortar & More

Hello Lennart, Hello Lauren, welcome to M&M stories! Can you tell us a little bit about your backgrounds and how and when you both realized you’d like to set up your studio together?

Lennart
The idea of having our own design studio together was something that has grown during our final years at the academy. Eventually, we started our studio back in 2017 at the same time Lauren was graduating. A little sooner than expected but it was the perfect transition for myself after my own graduation in 2016.

Lauren
During our time at the Academy we worked on a few projects together, I think these were the moments that we realized that it was working quite well.We saw more and more of each other strengths and how our qualities complemented each other.

Now that we are few years further on, I can say that this was definitely the right move.Not only business-wise but also on a personal level, it is a really nice journey that we are experiencing.

Are each of your roles clearly defined and how do you divide the business side and the creative side to your practice?

Lennart
Yes and No? We always try to divide our work by focusing on our strengths. However, a creative process is never the same and especially in the early stages of a new project you have to give yourself the freedom of expression. This sometimes ensures that you do things that the other person may be better at. But that’s ok of course! It’s important for us to be all-rounders in a small and creative company.

In terms of finding the right balance between the business and creative side, there is a clear division of roles when it comes to this.

In practice, I am more responsible for the business aspect and Lauren for the creative. But in the end, we, of course, share everything and never make a final decision without the other.

Lauren
For me, it feels like the creative part is the heart of our company. On one side there is the business part which Lennart is doing more of and on the other side the practical part which I am working on most of the time. This means more working on 3d modelling on the computer and the technical aspect of every product.

In terms of our In-house production, we share the same qualities but even then we have our own roles in line with our personal preferences. Sometimes we also have a freelancer for a specific role within a project, but if there are changes that we could make ourselves… We will try this first! This will probably have something to do with being in control of every aspect when it comes to our self-initiated projects. Or it really needs to be fully outsourced, which we often have with commissioned projects. Then it’s fine too!

What do you do when you’re not working?

Lennart
Working on my old and small town house and if I’m lucky enough some football in the background. And if the weather is great I’d love to be on the water with friends and go for some surfing.

Lauren
A lot! But it’s always about doing something physical and if it’s possible also outside: Water sports, working or driving on my motorcycle, ball sports or just walking in nature with my dog.

Especially the last one is great during this time of the year in Deventer (NL).