What's the !SSUE

What is the !SSUE?

It begins with a simple shift in perspective: this is not about us, but about the waste we continue to produce—quietly, relentlessly, and often without consequence. That, perhaps, is the real issue.

!SSUE is conceived as a pilot—an attempt to extend the conversation beyond the local, and to position it where it might be examined more critically. At its core, it carries forward the thinking of .bungkus, a project born out of notime towaste design lab, where .bungkus focuses on plastic, !SSUE broadens the scope to include textile, leather and even food waste—materials equally embedded in cycles of overproduction and disposal within the fashion industry and our favourite eateries.

The ambition is deliberately measured. Rather than relying on complex systems or distant technologies, the approach remains grounded: low-tech, direct, and adaptable. Methods are designed to be repeatable in local contexts, placing the possibility of making—and remaking—back into the hands of individuals and communities.

The bags themselves are not presented as solutions. They exist somewhere less defined, in a space that resists easy categorisation. Not entirely right, not entirely wrong—only considered. After decades of evolving frameworks—of recyling and upcyling—the question remains whether the language of sustainability has kept pace with the realities of how we live.

!SSUE operates, in part, as a parallel line of inquiry—an ongoing form of research and development embedded within daily practice. It looks beyond material alone, and towards method: how things are made, why they are made, and whether those processes can genuinely shift behaviour over time. Because, in the end, sustainability may not be found in what we use, but in how we choose to use it.

The Exclamation Comma

The exclamation mark in !ssue is not a gesture of urgency alone, nor a design interruption in language. It is a reminder—quietly insistent—that attention is still possible. Paired with a dialogue icon, it suggests something more deliberate: not just expression, but exchange. A return to conversation in a moment where much of what surrounds us is consumed in silence or passive agreement.

Importantly, the “!” also carries its full meaning as excitement. Not spectacle, but energy—something alive, transferable, and contagious. Because conversation, if it is to matter, cannot remain neutral. It requires a degree of momentum, a spark that moves between people. In this sense, excitement becomes not excess, but a necessary condition for engagement.

The logo, then, stands as a compact system of three ideas: attention, excitement, and conversation. Each depends on the others. Attention allows us to notice; excitement encourages us to care; conversation allows us to respond. Together, they form a simple but deliberate framework for how ideas might circulate.

!ssue operates on the belief that change rarely begins in scale. It begins in fragments. In small decisions that accumulate quietly, and in larger acts that shift perception. Both are necessary. Both are connected. A repaired object, a reconsidered material, a redesigned process—each carries its own weight, however modest it may appear in isolation.

There is a tendency to wait for transformation to arrive fully formed, systemic and complete. But the reality is more incremental. It is built through repetition, dialogue, and the willingness to act without certainty of outcome. To act nonetheless.

In this way, the exclamation mark is not a declaration of certainty, but of engagement. It punctuates a space where questions remain open, and where response is still possible. l̦SSUE is, ultimately, an appeal to that space—to conversation as a method, and to action as a shared responsibility.

What is the !SSUE?

It begins with a simple shift in perspective: this is not about us, but about the waste we continue to produce—quietly, relentlessly, and often without consequence. That, perhaps, is the real issue.

The Exclamation Comma

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