Martha McQuade has such a lovely new online space called MWM Workbook that I thoroughly enjoyed browsing today and I believe that you’ll find inspiration from this as well. Martha is the designer behind UNIFORM Studio in Minneapolis where she creates ethically made clothing and accessories. From her bio, “Trained as an architect, Martha McQuade lives and works in Minneapolis, MN where she teaches architecture, designs clothing, makes buildings, takes photographs, writes about process + design, and is always looking for phenomena + beauty.”

Her new website, MWM Workbook, will function as both a portfolio and a blog where she’ll write once weekly on topics like design, process and inspiration. It also has slideshows featuring photographic studies, her studio space, previous collections, and a sketchbook gallery along with other bits of her work life such as news where she’ll post about upcoming collections, shop updates and shows.

I love the new format and think that it’s refreshing to see a site that is a bit of a website and blog combined, it’s innovative and starting to pop up around the web as some artists aren’t interested in the daily exercise of blogging and would rather have a simple space to show up once weekly to update — it’s more dynamic than a static website but less hectic than maintaining a daily blog (Martha’s site is by Cargo Collective.)

Let’s face it, with the speed of the web these days a full-time artist or designer who is unable to blog for several days in a row often leaves fans feeling a bit neglected and this can cause guilt. It’s true, they can start to miss you and wonder what’s wrong and often this can be hard for creatives to manage — the constant interaction with their fans and need to post, post, post! The inspiration they draw from having fans is a blessing but so often it can be the same joy that ends up depleting them of their creative energy because it’s so much work to maintain a daily blog. The MWM Workbook format is a lot less pressure but also very creative and can still be subscribed to via RSS so Martha’s fans always know when she’s posted something new. Lovely work, Martha.

What do you think of this format? Any thoughts come to mind? Would you try it?

(images: martha mcquade/uniform studio)

19 Responses to “UNIFORM Studio”

1 jodi commented:
January 12th, 2010 at 10:48 am

i love martha’s new format!
.-= jodi´s last blog ..52 projects =-.
2 hmstrjam commented:
January 12th, 2010 at 10:58 am

love that precocious cat!
3 The Bella Life commented:
January 12th, 2010 at 10:59 am

Talk about talent! I can’t wait to check out the new site. Thanks for sharing!
4 Caroline commented:
January 12th, 2010 at 11:25 am

In addition to her creative productions, I love the work station w/ the Ikea shelves underneath!
5 Jacqueline commented:
January 12th, 2010 at 11:29 am

That is such a gorgeous site and i love her format of website and blog combined! It’s soo inspirational! This would be really fun and exciting to try out. :) Have a lovely merry happy day and love to yoU!
.-= Jacqueline´s last blog ..::happy:: =-.
6 laura trevey commented:
January 12th, 2010 at 11:32 am

I need an island like that for my art studio!
Fabulous!!
.-= laura trevey´s last blog ..Coffee Table Books =-.
7 Cassandra commented:
January 12th, 2010 at 11:47 am

I think it’s fantastic. I’m going to look into it post-hast, forthwith! Thanks for sharing.
.-= Cassandra´s last blog ..Haven quilts – Beach =-.
8 jen commented:
January 12th, 2010 at 12:12 pm

This is a great post! I dream of having an island like that in my studio and it seems I am not the only one based on the other commenters. I love seeing her creative process. Very inspired.
.-= jen´s last blog ..Design Crush- Patricia Mumau =-.
9 Minnie commented:
January 12th, 2010 at 12:22 pm

This sounds like a great idea. To me, the process of creating would seem to be more important than spending time maintaining a daily blog. I know that some of my favorite blogs, some from artists, don’t update daily and I’m OK with that because I know that the bloggers are otherwise consistent (once or twice weekly, for example) AND they usually have great stuff worth waiting for. I think I saw Martha McQuade’s studio before and she documents the before and after – it’s a basement studio and so wonderfully done. I can’t wait to go see it again.
.-= Minnie´s last blog ..Gallery tour: arts from a castle-topped hill =-.
10 alejandra commented:
January 12th, 2010 at 12:31 pm

Very cool, I need a workspace like that!
11 mary commented:
January 12th, 2010 at 12:32 pm

The URL doesn’t seem to be working for me, but I look forward to checking it out later, because the website/blog hybrid is something I’ve been thinking about myself. It’s sort of the best of both worlds, really, and so appealing in that it’s (as you’ve said) less pressure yet still creative.

I can’t wait to take a peek at it! :)
.-= mary´s last blog .. =-.
12 Creative Coquette commented:
January 12th, 2010 at 12:33 pm

That’s a very intersting platform. I’m liking how the slideshow works and I for one love that it’s super visual.
.-= Creative Coquette´s last blog ..Between Lovely and Hot =-.
13 decor8 commented:
January 12th, 2010 at 1:35 pm

Mary hi! I just tried every link in the post and it works fine for me… perhaps you can clear your cache and try again?
14 Carla commented:
January 12th, 2010 at 1:44 pm

Thank you for sharing Martha and her online space; the concept emanates both balance and beauty. While I admire and adore daily blogs/bloggers, I know the intensity of posting every day would overwhelm me personally and recently have been mulling over using a similar format. It is quite nice to see it implemented in real life!
15 rowena commented:
January 12th, 2010 at 1:49 pm

I love that format, although I think I would want the blog part to work more easily than she says it does. I agree with what she says about looking at the whole together, rather than just the parts. And yet, I still like the cohesion of the separate parts of the site. Each part has it’s own identity, and yet, seen in proximity with the others, all the work starts to make sense. Her voice is clear and inspiration more alive.
16 sharon commented:
January 12th, 2010 at 2:59 pm

i love this…it’s a great site, and just what we’ve been talking about at the company i work for – a site that was more than just a blog, but a way of showcasing different aspects of our design business…thank you so much for sharing this xx
.-= sharon´s last blog ..knit 1 purl 1 x =-.
17 mary commented:
January 12th, 2010 at 5:11 pm

…and I’m back! I was able to see the site and I think it’s great. Very clean and unique! And I agree with rowena, above — I really like how she’s kept the different parts cohesive and easy to navigate. I love the idea of having one place to go for both a blog and portfolio of work. Now you’ve got my wheels turning… :)
.-= mary´s last blog .. =-.
18 julie commented:
January 12th, 2010 at 5:58 pm

I really like the idea, it doesn´t set up unrealistic expectations and in contrast to a website there is enough space to “move”.
Neat :-)
.-= julie´s last blog ..grau… =-.
19 Kristina commented:
January 13th, 2010 at 9:57 am

I just love Martha’s studio…but I hadn’t seen her new website :o(
I find it very refreshing. I just ran through some of the other cargo websites – truly inspirring. I don’t know if I would give up my Blog though…

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