About Dark Matters Designs

This small, single owner/operator shop was born of community and conversation in Helena, Montana. Douglas Balmain [me], also the sole owner/operator of Pondering Poet Publishing, founded Dark Matters Designs for the sake of condensing the thoughts, attitudes, and humor of the community through stickers: small messages that can be spread easily, related to, and that can spark conversation, thought, or provide a quick dose of needed humor. The name Dark Matters arose much the same way as the contents of this shop did, through conversation and the sharing of ideas. The name contains a multitude of meanings including the will to address difficult topics with openness and—at times—levity. It is also a nod to Carl Jung and Jungian thought. One of my favorite quotes of Jung's is, “One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. The latter procedure, however, is disagreeable and therefore not popular.” Dark Matters Designs is an effort to lend the 'procedure of making the darkness conscious' a bit more accessibility and popular appeal. I drew the cartoonish moth symbol with charcoal on newsprint paper. I had no intention of drawing the likeness of a moth...it was a product of creative drawing session and seems a fitting mascot for this small printing & design effort; moths are wondrous creatures, who exist largely in darkness. Rather than dwell there, they spend their short lives flying towards the light.Read their story