Creative MRD – a reliable source of visual ideas.

Miroslav Dorotčín and Maroš Roch - creative tandem M/R/D

Miro and Maroš. Cheerful young minds exploding with stream of words and ideas who are always fun to be with. I have vivid memory of our first meeting in our perfumery 1907 in Košice, where they discovered a new perfume world as a kind of niche perfume virgins. They were curious, open-minded with genuine enthusiasm for something new to discover. For me, it was exactly the type of people you could talk to about everything, not only perfumes. After their visit, they left us with Evka like a "cracked melon," as Miro would say.

The boys immersed deeper into the perfume world, which resulted in writing their perfume impressions as "Roztoč & Krůta” (in translation something like “Mite and Turkey") for the perfume blog Frangipani.cz. The world of artistic perfumes has totally overwhelmed them and they were looking for a way to leave their unique imprint on it. A creative tandem M / R / D was created as an abbreviation of their names and surnames - Maroš Roch and Miroslav Dorotčín.

The collaboration of the 1907 with these two was only a kind of natural outcome. They gave us the creative visual for our new perfume collection 1907 Fragment, which we are now gradually introducing to the public and to the world. Read a short interview with the boys from M / R / D, where they give you tidbits from their world.

Miroslav Dorotčín and Maroš Roch - creative tandem M/R/D

You do design for large multinational companies, too. Why did you choose smaller perfume brands?

M.R .: Miro has been in the business for more than a decade, he has done projects for global sports brands: in his portfolio you will find cars, trains, buses, machine tools... His scope never ceases to amaze me. We only started creating together when we found our passion for niche perfumes. From blogging for Frangipani.cz, where we started writing about this passion as Roztoč & Krůta, we naturally discovered 1907. Well, at this point it was already clear that instead of “why?” the question is “how?”.

M.D .: Professionally, each of us did different work for a long time, but we have always been searching  for something we could do together. I am more into technical stuff, and Maroš introduced me to the world of niche scents. We started to discover and even collect them together. Step by step, we stopped spending on clothes and went for emotion in bottles. And it wasn't wine. I've been involved in retail design for purely commercial purposes for a long time, which is nice, however global companies require global ideas and the space for creativity is getting uncomfortably narrow. I mean really my kind of creativity. The niche perfume world is great in this. It is growing incredibly fast, but there are still lots of "arty" brands which are daring and push the limits. For me, it is an opportunity to do retail playfully.

 

We know that you do creative design for various niche brands, what determines which kind of design you choose for particular brand?

M.R .: I probably can't define it so generally at this point. Here, for example, it was the personal factor that was certainly crucial. And there must be a passion for the things that the brand does. Then a little is enough, a Netfix show, a favourite video clip, a book, sometimes just a memorable experience one of us suddenly brings to life and it clicks with the brand and here we go: pencils, drawings, computer and everything is happening. This is probably the moment when the feeling completely overweighs the ambition and the favourite game can start.

M.D .: Yeah, the selection is purely emotional. If you look at the @creativemrd at our Instagram, our first project was the affair of the hart for the both of us and we still consider it to be a reference quality in niche perfumery. Up to this day, whatever I smell I compare to it. We strangely agree on this, so it was clear that our first common shot would be dedicated to this brand. And it worked well. We have discovered we enjoy brands that do not play it in a way of "opulent presentations of the third kind", but confidently walk across the niche world with an emphasis on quality. No effort to enchant the blogosphere, just authentic work with juices one will never forget.

 

You did a creative design for us, too. Was there anything particularly interesting or surprising for you in our cooperation?

M.R .: The spontaneity that led all our steps and how our enthusiasms met. And the trust we felt from the very beginning, that was the engine helping us to be clear about things from the start. All these things are not something that would happen often.

M.D .: A feeling. As for the learners, it took us quite a long time to even understand what 1907 really is. Within Slovakia and generally, on the globe. Your "Nom" from the Beneath the Surface collection got into our cells and our way to understanding aldehydes was about to open. And I personally still claim that Chanel nr.5 is a men's fragrance. We have always had a lot of fun meeting you and we were totally overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and service you provide to your clients (because they are no longer customers, it is a kind of a scented guerrilla movement). That got me. And now all this mutual respect and empathy and everything ... That work completely absorbed us in the best possible way.

Creative M / R / D is created by the two of you as a duo. Do both of you have your own field of activity or is there something where you overlap or even interfere?

M.R .: All three variants apply at once, I would say. With a "small" detail that Miro is a real wizard in what he does. That visible part of work is all his. I'm just trying to see which idea I can pass through. I work more in words, pictures, contexts, pop culture references and I really enjoy getting him hooked on a project I come up with. Humour. We perceive it very similarly.

M.D .: It's definitely divided. I'm an executor. Maroš is a nerd, probably the only person I listen to when he comments on what I do. Thankfully, unfortunately, he's nearly always right, which feels like a fist straight to my nose for my ego. However, he usually comes up with a strong argument and after a while with a cigarette on the balcony I can breathe easy again and I come back to the computer and change stuff, because it (usually) makes sense and it (usually) has balls…  As a one of those who need to have the last word on everything, I must appreciate his insights and get the hell out of it. So yes, we brainstorm a lot, we argue before we let something out. We enjoy it this way because it feels like a game. Especially the mix of various inspirations and ideas.. The fact that we no longer know who originally came up with what, and through various inspirations we are moving towards a clear common idea. It's sexy.

 

What will you remember from working on design for our new perfume collection Fragment?

M.R .: A meeting at the town square in Levoča. And what followed immediately after, at home, when we went through and sorted everything that the big three from 1907 had been serving us for several hours in between lunch, dessert and coffee. And how suddenly the Fragment "click" came…

M.D .: For me, when we introduced you to the idea of picture frames as fragments of your perfume world and when you gave us a clear "yes". We had already brainstormed a lot before, and then the moment came, today we can't even reveal what it was, because it just came out of blue, we stopped ourselves, staring at each other and we went like “this is f****n’ it! Let that inspiration (rather) remain a mystery; we had to clean it up and throw things away until we finally worked out the pure motif that had been resonating and calling us in connection with 1907. From that moment on, we knew exactly what we wanted, and you got it perfectly and supported it. Free hands, fast pace, wit and understanding. I enjoyed it!

Miroslav Dorotčín and Maroš Roch - creative tandem M/R/D