Laug Auf makes room for mindful technology use, a better connection with the real world

You’ve likely seen the logo by now. On a shirt, a hat, a bumper sticker, a sports jersey. 

“Laug auf.” The L and A form a triangle; in the middle is a power button, like the one you might find on your computer’s keyboard. Step back a bit and the power button becomes a person’s head, arms outstretched, ready to receive the world. 

Laug Auf (pronounced log off) is a brand, yes. But more than anything, it’s a message. 

“Laug Auf is a reminder for my family and friends to manage our screen time, reduce digital distractions and truly be present with each other,” brand founder Axel Yberg said. But more than that, it encourages people to live with their ‘eyes open,’ he explains, to ignite curiosity, craft unique realities and embrace life’s possibilities. To every now and then, turn that button – the one that powers your devices – off. 

And that is what Laug Auf, now headquartered in the Thompson Building in Northport Village, sets out to do: inspire and empower people of all ages to break free from the grip of their cellphones, of social media, of constant interruption. Yberg isn’t asking you to ditch your phone for good, but rather have a more mindful relationship with the time you’re spending online so that you can embrace the ‘real world’ again. 

“If you have a conscious and aware relationship with your entire digital life, you’ll be happier,” Yberg said. “It’s not about getting rid of it, but reevaluating it.” 

An eternity and an instant
Yberg is a vibe. A bit mad scientist, a bit reluctant philosopher, he speaks in a soft but persistent voice. Ask him a question and the answers stream out, frenetic but controlled, as he always finds a way to circle back to his original thought. Each off-the-track shift in speech awakens another meaning, and for Yberg… that’s just kind of how life is.

The idea for Laug Auf came to him in 2017, Yberg said. “For nearly a decade, I found myself increasingly engrossed in my phone, believing it kept me connected and informed,” he said. His cell phone, however, was disconnecting Yberg from his family, his friends and from being present in their daily lives. What troubled him the most, he said, was the example he was setting for his children, who were almost 9 and 7 at the time.

“I was on my phone too much and I was losing my own kids,” he told the Journal in an interview in early June. “The effect my behavior was having on them was why I had to do this.” 

The Laug Auf website describes what happened next:

“Desperate for a digital detox, in that very moment, I made a crucial decision: I turned off my phone,” Yberg wrote. “The effects were immediate; I felt connected and alive. It was as if a light was turned on in my mind and a spark had been ignited in my soul. I had clarity.”

This new vision, this burning desire to inspire others to break free from their digital worlds and live with their “eyes open” (laug auf means “eyelids open” in Estonian and German, respectively), has been building in Yberg’s mind, in his soul, in his “little cage of a garage” in Centerport for eight years. He has designed every aspect of the business – the logos, the language, the display cases and tables in his store’s spaces – himself. Though Yberg won't take all the credit for himself; he attributes much of what he has accomplished to comments and ideas that he’s gleaned from other people, including family, friends and former coworkers at Akke Woodworks, a design and build firm that once had a workshop and gallery on School Street in Northport Village. It’s always been a team effort, he said. 

The years it took to get here, into a brick and mortar space that’s part experiential retail and part meaningful hangout, took both an eternity and an instant, Yberg said. He never seems to be in a rush, anyway; Yberg’s taken the time to develop the brand, fine tune its elements and dial its message in. 

Stay curious 
That message is so important, Yberg said, that he’s decided – at least he’s trying – to tone his own voice down to make sure the people he meets along the way can tune in and connect with what the message means to them. 

“I have to be careful that I don’t go too fast, too forward,” Yberg said. “There are so many things I want to express but…” (at this point, Yberg takes an almost labored breath, a sigh, a release of even more thought – he’s slowing himself down) “...people only want to hear so much. So I have to be delicate. I can’t do this to everyone who comes in here. They’re going to think I’m a lunatic.”

Instead, Yberg wants to inspire curiosity. “We’re trying to build a community and it has to start small and grow authentically, peer to peer,” he said. “It’s building community through curiosity.”

Now’s probably a good time to introduce Yberg’s business partner Eamonn McLoughlin, who, after seeing the logo around town and buying some gear, felt compelled to invest financially in the company (he and his father Gary are Laug Auf’s most recent investors). McLoughlin is a great spokesperson for Laug Auf, though he makes sure to credit Yberg as the creator and brain of the brand. Yberg also makes sure to credit McLoughlin for getting the team to where they are now. “He was the perfect person to come at the perfect time,” Yberg said. “But that’s just because when you are doing such an authentic thing, that’s what happens.” 

It’s a solid synergy. 

McLoughlin describes how people have been coming into Laug Auf for the past few months, drawn in by a window display, to tour the two Thompson building spaces, and talk to Yberg face-to-face. “Usually they’re pretty excited that they’ve discovered something unique that they didn't know was here at all,” he said.  

This type of engagement, this organic in-person conversation spurred on by natural curiosity, represents what Laug Auf wants to highlight: that no matter what our age, our digital lives are not making us happier, even though many of us are spending hours and hours per day online. People are much happier when they are connecting with others in person, McLoughlin said. He hopes the space, which includes a “phone cell” to lock up your cellphone upon entry should you choose, will really resonate with the younger crowd, the kids who’ve been growing up with a phone in their hands.  

“Axel believes strongly that these generations of kids that everyone is so worried about, when they start to recognize that there’s an alternative to the way they have been living, they’re going to do amazing things,” McLoughlin said. “Their minds will open just by being here.”

The asylAUm 
The asylAUm, a term McLoughlin coined, is Laug Auf’s safe space nestled into the Thompson building (the shop is also spelled with a capital AU – the shAUp – a theme you’ll find throughout the brand). There’s a lounge area, a place to sit and read a book, a ping pong table (made of some seriously high-end wood) and a pay phone in a booth. The phone is temperamental and a bit glitchy but it does bring you back to the days when you really needed a reason (and some pocket change) to call someone – maybe you phoned your mom to pick you up after school, or a friend to join you at the mall.  

“This is where you come and experience one part of the brand,” Yberg said. “And if it resonates with you, if it means something to you, you take that with you. And you share that with people who have never been to the shop.” The room is a tangible place to see Laug Auf’s mission acted out, a reminder to be more present, more openminded and more curious, McLoughlin added. 

“It gives you a little boost for the day,” he said, explaining the real-life dopamine hit most people get just by being around and connecting with likeminded people. The asylAUm isn’t there to drill the message of logging off into people, it’s there to provide a space that kids want to go to, away from their phones and other distractions. 

It’s a journey McLoughlin and Yberg have put a lot of faith in.

“Our belief is that it will be a much more powerful shift when the kids themselves are making the decision, when they buy in themselves, to spend this kind of time being creative, curious. That’s really what a lot of this is about,” McLoughlin said. “It’s not just about screens, it’s about when the kids themselves are leading the charge and they realize there’s a better alternative out there. They think they’re missing out on things by not being on their phone but in a lot of ways we feel when kids finally break away and there’s more and more of them living their lives off their phones, it’ll stick more, become part of their identity again, not something that’s forced on them but something they are embracing themselves.”

Laug Auf. Life on.
Laug Auf is here to help kids develop a growth mindset, the belief that one's abilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication and hard work, and that being willing to fail is not only a good thing, but a necessary thing, McLoughlin said. A growth mindset is the idea that talents and skills aren't fixed, but can be improved with effort and learning. It allows people to  develop confidence and make positive life choices, he said. 

“People are so anxious to get ahead with things. When you get to where you think you’re going, first of all you're not there, where you’re really going yet,” Yberg adds, the occasional philosopher in him shining through. 

Laug Auf offers a journey of learning and understanding not available in the digital world, he said. He hopes that every person who visits the shAUp and asylAUm creates a definition of what the spaces mean to them, so that they can become theirs too. “That’s the objective,” he said. “That they become a part of this.”

This, Yberg hopes, is the path to help people turn their lives back on, to come alive, as he has learned how to since starting his own journey eight years ago. “I’m just putting effort in to inspire, empower and encourage other people to do the same thing in their life,” he said. “That’s all it is.”

To learn more about the Laug Auf brand, from its merchandise to its involvement in the community, including charitable efforts and collaborations, educational outreach and (one day!) an entrepreneurship program, visit laugauf.com or, better yet, stop by the headquarters at 24 Woodbine Avenue, in the Thompson Building in Northport Village.