Devantier Vintage – Denmark

Posted on Tuesday, May 21, 2013 by nannadis

Team Snoop-Around had a brief moment of working from two different countries, and that is why we decided to work on this interview together, Nanna Dís portraying the visuals from Denmark, and me meeting up with the wonderful Anna Devantier who runs her vintage store in Copenhagen on Skype. We wanted to know a little bit more about Anna, and her collective choices for the pieces sold in the store.

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How was it for you growing up in Denmark, fashion wise?

I had a very common style in that sense when I was a teenager, I wore oversized lumberjack shirts and this of course was the time of the grunge era. When I went to the University it changed a bit for me, and I started to be more out there as of being independent in my style. I wore eveningwear and bohemian outfits to school in the daytime and stuff like that. I have always read a lot of fashion magazines like British Vogue, so fashion has always been my interest.

How is your style now?

I have been through various different styles through my life but now I am wearing a lot of black. I don’t think I am representing my store all the time of course, but I am driven by my passion for fashion. I hand pick everything in the store and each piece is chosen with the elements of contemporary design, wearability and quality. This is what vintage is for me; vintage is to be worn in a modern way.

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What has influenced you, have you travelled the world?

Yes, you could say that I have travelled the world, or at least a part of it. I was studying Hebrew and Middle Eastern studies so I travelled alot to Israel and Palestine for example. I have been to all sorts of markets and I sometimes I buy items for the shop. It is very important for me to be on the lookout wherever I go and it has developed my passion for vintage clothing a lot. It’s nice to see a piece from Yves Saint Laurent in foreign countries that are very different from the Western world in terms of culture and living standards, but still have rare items available in stores or markets. Fashion can be global in that way.

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It’s nice to see that fashion goes in circles, what can you tell me about that?

The difference is that second hand, is not necessarily vintage. Vintage clothes are monuments from designers from the past, exquisite pieces of art and design that we in the Vintage business want to give life again by making them available at reasonable prizes for people to wear. Some vintage pieces have never been worn, so in this way they also differ from the second hand concept. We offer an extensive collection of vintage clothing, shoes and accessories that span the entire 20th century, pretty much!

You also have other items in the store that are not clothing?

Yes, we have all kinds of different things, for example we sell books about Fashion, photography and design. I have educated myself a lot through reading fashion magazines and books throughout my life, and incorporate my passion for this in the store. You never know what to expect in Devantier Vintage. Every visit should be about surprise and inspiration.

Devantier Vintage_Copenhagen_013©NannaDís2013

What about the sizes of the pieces, is that a problem?

We have all sizes in the store, from the smallest sizes to around size 42. But of course it’s difficult if you see your dream item, but it’s not in your size. The same goes for shoes and other things that do not necessarily fit. But when you are lucky, and everything fits, it’s an extra special moment for people to buy their dream piece.

Where does the name for the store come from?

The name Devantier Vintage comes from my family name. My intention has always been that it should reflect my personal sense of style and fashion.

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How do you like to be online, do you communicate a lot with your customers for example on your Facebook page?

Yes, it is very necessary and an inspiration to communicate with people online. We also have an online store, so we are not bound by our location necessarily. It is great in the modern day to photograph the items sold in the store. This way people can immediately see online what new items we get in the store, before they come and try things out. We also offer a Newsletter for our enthusiasts, so people know when we get rare things in the shop.

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It was great to speak with Anna on Skype, actually this is team Snoop-Around first online interview. It had its up and downs, since the recording program shut down midway through, but it was a great experience that the team will think abut doing in the future if its members are in different locations. She is a true enthusiast about fashion and vintage so its nice to pop by the shop and talk to her in person about the items sold in the store.

We encourage all to visit the shop if ever in Copenhagen, here you can find it on a MAP
- and the store is open Tue- Fri from 11:00 am – 06:00 pm and on Saturdays from 11:00 am – 4:00 pm.

Online store
Facebook page

Interview: Ása Baldursdóttir
Photographs: Nanna Dís

Marino Thorlacius

Posted on Friday, April 19, 2013 by nannadis

Team Snoop-Around visited Marinó´s new studio in the harbour area of Reykjavík,
where the quiet photographer welcomed us to his studio. He rarely describes his own work, as he likes to make it stand unexplained. We wanted to know more about this atmospheric and one of the most prominent photographer in Iceland today.

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So you are a photographer and a designer?

I am in both; I am much more in photography now though. I learned NTV back in 2002, and was making record covers and such until maybe 2004 – 2005 when I bought my first camera. But I’m not a graphic designer.

Has the foreign press shown you much interest?

Yes, I have been in various photography magazines and such. But I am not very good in answering questions; I am not much of a front man in that way. I made a New Years resolution to be more available discussing my work further. These are two different kinds of groups that I work with, the field of advertisement and the art house field for the galleries. So it depends on which field is referred to.

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Photographs: Marino Thorlacius

What is your favourite commissions project up to date?

Sruli is one of them, where I blended together what I wanted to do, and what needed to be done. I divide these areas actually, what is mine and what the commissionaires wants. Even though they request something that looks like some series that I have previously worked on, the work often ends up being very commercial. Working for Lexus in Japan was also a very fun experience and my collaboration with Jónas Valtýrsson is always a great thing.

“I rarely describe my work in words, and I never try to explain what I am doing so I feel it is very funny when others do”

How do you feel when others describe your work and photography?

Ahh, I don’t know. I rarely describe my work in words, and I never try to explain what I am doing so I feel it is very funny when others do. Some are very analytic and say that they sense loneliness, misery and even depression in my work. I can understand these elements very well actually in terms of my early work for example my book that was full of photographs in that atmosphere.

But I mainly am fascinated by locations and when people ask me, where my photographs were taken I don’t think it matters so they are missing my artistic point. For example I am taking photographs in different kinds of cities like Paris, Berlin and Tokyo and they all look the same. The photographs are empty with people and they portray distance. I often do not decide what I am doing beforehand. I am very fond of the weather and light than anything else, artistically.

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“I get very inspired by films, and I am kind of manic about them”

You are moving towards the field of the moving image, what can you tell me about that?

It was always on the plan for me to create video work. I get very inspired by films, and I am kind of manic about them. I got my first camera that records video as well recently. The movement with the camera is different and exciting; there are technical aspects that you need to get involved with. My method of filming is very similar with how I shoot photographs, its not about the fixed posing, I rather create two dots that I try to capture the movement in-between with the camera.

I am so lucky that I have been a photographer for years, and that helps me a lot in the film making process. I can think in terms of the moving image.

Requiem trailer – Directed by: Sigríður Soffía / Marino Thorlacius

I saw a short film trailer that came out the other day, which you shot. How did this collaboration come about?

Me and Sigga Soffía, dancer, met in Paris a year ago or something. I had been observant of contemporary dance prior, and I thought the format was very interesting. These elements of floating, non-speaking elements, and the fact that you can express the feeling that you want to portray through the moving image sold me this idea of producing a dance film.

We started out filming, and we ended up using a lot of the test that we shot. When you have a stage, the audience is always looking from one direction and the dancers need to turn and portray the movement. But when you are filming, you are floating with the dancer. We took a lot of one shots that is they had to choreograph one scene completely. This method was very sufficient for me to explore, for example when to approach the movement more closely.

I am also very excited about what musician Barði (Bang Gang) will add to the film; as for he is creating the sound world for the film.

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Photographs: Marino Thorlacius

So, you are excited on working more with film?

Yes, and next projects will be worked on differently. But I am very fascinated by films, I can name a couple of titles, There will be blood and films made by Terrence Malick, Thin red line and Tree of life to name a few. Everything that is undisclosed in a way where directors allow themselves to do what they want.

Films like Biutiful, Babel and Children of men are titles that I am very drawn to, in the sense that they are very extravagant in using the visual medium as a tool for their artistry. Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki is a great inspiration to me.

I am curious about Icelandic artists that have had impact on you in life, what can you tell me about that?

The Icelandic photographer RAX had extremely much influence on me in the beginning of my carrier whereas his work is about breaking the frame in an artistic way. Icelanders haven’t witnessed photography as an art form really, like the format is known abroad.

“I am looking at the world as a stage”

But personally I am more influenced by paintings, rather than photography like Dalhi and such painters. I am looking at the world as a stage, and that is what inspires me really.

Pétur Thomsen is one contemporary Icelandic photographer that I was really impressed by, one of his recent show Imported landscapes was amazing. I sometimes see elements that I have myself been trying out in other peoples work.

Marino Thorlacius_Photographer_Iceland_Snoop-Around_08©NannaDís2013

What are your elements in photography?

Icelanders present Iceland like they want to do it, the focus is very much on tourism in that sense. But people that work in the travel industry they sometimes don’t think about other elements than sunshine and nature, about other things like tourists that live in big cities that never experience silence for example. These are experiences; I am not drawn to shoot in this postcard- like style.

Sometimes people tend to ask a lot about the locations, but the things that matters the most is how the weather was, you could be standing out on a field that suddenly turns in to an art piece in one second. The moments are what its all about. And they are also intangible to capture sometimes.

Marino Thorlacius_Photographer_Iceland_Snoop-Around_03©NannaDís2013

Are you thinking about publish more books with your work, since you have one out?

My first book was a piece that I haven’t even flipped through since it was published. I want to work with a concept if I am going to do another one; I want to maybe do several books in a row. The book format is very exciting in a way, its something that lives on and has its charismatic’s.

If you produce series, you can allow yourself to choose photographs that are a part of the series and that is very interesting in it self. The book format has this holistic quality that we sometimes lose in our overloaded times.

The photograph changes in its element when it’s printed; this is the reason why photographers are always printing out tests and such. If I could choose, I would work with film. But it’s too expensive and is heavy in production. Sometimes the time frame doesn’t allow it either. The clients are used to choose from a large collection, so it isn’t a choice sometimes.

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Pétur Ben musician – Photograph: Marino Thorlacius

We are looking forward to follow up on Marinó´s work in the future, both in photography and in filmmaking and wish him all the best in his visually intriguing future.

marinothorlacius.com

Interview: Ása Baldursdóttir
Photographs: Nanna Dís

Siggi Palli

Posted on Saturday, March 2, 2013 by nannadis

Team Snoop-Around parked outside Mótorsmiðjan for an interview, the second home of artist Siggi Palli, who greeted us with great respect. The atmosphere inside was nice and cosy, and we sat down in the Café area for a chat, we wanted to know a thing or two about Siggi Palli´s lifestyle, artistry and views on the Icelandic motorcycle culture.

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I wonder, have you always been artsy?

I have been drawing since I was a little kid; it was my medium when I expressed myself. I mediated both joy and anger through art, once when my father was strict with me I drew a pretty libellous picture and gave him. He still owns the picture. So, when I needed to get something out of my system I drew it away.

When I was older I was a student at the Icelandic Academy of the arts, but I didn’t connect with the format of creating art daily from 8-4, and to hand in projects on deadlines and so forth. It killed my drive for some reason. We learned Art History, where we studied paintings made by the old masters, and I was sure that I would never paint like that. The comparison didn’t make sense to me at the time.

I didn’t mange to finish school, so me and my friend decided to get a job on a ship, that sailed us to Greece, where we stayed for some time for we wanted to experience something new and adventurous. When I came back I didn’t touch a pencil or a brush for years though.

“a documentary, Flúreyjar, about a small group of tattoo artists from Iceland”

So you have been working with film, I hear as well?

Yes, I had been doing that for years. I have for example been directing and producing music videos and various things. I was a gripper for years as well. I produced a documentary, Flúreyjar, about a small group of tattoo artists from Iceland, Fjölnir and Jón Páll, and a couple of other guys that went biking in Faeroe Islands. I have always been a big fan of the Islands, and Fjölnir even made me a tattoo as a thank you gift with the logo of the film after all this.

But yes, I have been directing and producing music videos with various artist from Iceland and Scandinavia; Dr. Spock, Eivör, Högni, Boys in a band and Rönbeck for example.

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So, when did you manage to get your mojo back?

Ten years ago, I started to see images again in my mind and got many ideas that I wanted to act on. I wanted to explore formatic elements and this need to paint gushed out so I started to paint a lot. When I had painted 20-25 large paintings, they started to get in our way at home so I figured that I had to exhibit then. In my exhibition 8 of 10 of my works were sold. So that gave me a boost on expressing myself artistically again. I painted when I got inspired, sometimes continuously for hours and hours. That’s the way I work, always.

I am currently also a drummer in a band called Þrusk. We are maybe not that known, but I can tell you that we were the first band to play on a snow stage up in Bláfjöll (Blue Mountains) as a warm up for the band Dr. Spock in the middle of the winter.

I have also been very much in touch with matters of the spirit. I hired my dad once to translate a book about Zen, called Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance, a book about quality of life and things that matter the most at the end of the day. In Icelandic we would say that I was an fjöllistamaður – which means that I am somewhat a multi artist. I am not only focusing on one art form and that’s they way I am.

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When did you start tattoo artistry?

I am a member of a motorcycle club, and they were always looking for someone that was skilled and artistic with a needle. So they had been encouraging me for a long time to do it, I had been a fan of this art form for years and had many tattoos myself. My wife bought me a start up equipment for tattooing, and they boys in my club were excited enough to let me practise, so I did just that and on human skin as well so that was a huge advantage for me.

My brother was running this place Mótorsmiðjan, and was looking for a tattoo artist, so I started out here. I try to focus on the tattooing and not on the drawing, at the moment, Siggi my coworker is drawing a lot and he is very talented and fast. Then as time passed by, me and Haddi who is a leather designer (Haddi Dreki) decided to open this up as a social club for bikers, and all those interested in the culture and the rock and roll lifestyle. Our organization is called the Motorheads, and we have around 130 active members. All members are welcome to spend time here, and those who want to tattoo each other can go ahead to do so.

And over there, you can see that we have various instruments here in front of our Café. There are many members of the club that are musicians, so they are free to play, grabbing whatever instruments they want and jam a little here whenever they want. They can drink coffee, form bands, or just play live music. This is an open stage, always.

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But what can you tell me about the hair saloon corner that I see over there?

Smutty Smiff is one of the most kown rockabilly heroes in the world today. He has played in many well-known bands with many of the most famous musicians in rock history. He is running a small hair salon here, in this rockabilly style, and we are the only store here in Iceland that offer those hair products, brilliantine hair wax for hairstyling.

So what is this business here in Mótorsmiðjan about, in general?

We are mainly running this to support our club, so we can get by sustainably. But we also give money to charity, for example we gave 100.000. – ISK the other day to the Children’s Hospital, Hringurinn. I really admire what they are doing there, my son got sick once so I have personal experience. We chose this organization because we know that their operation is run by heart and honesty. But yes, in general this is a social community for us bikers, mainly men. Women are always welcome though of course.

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“You don’t want to break in here, we will find you
before the police does”

So what groups belong to Mótorsmiðjan?

I am in a club called Hrafnar for example and Haddi is in a club called Þeyr. But that has in itself nothing to do with Mótorsmiðjan, it is for everybody bikers and non-bikers. Even though Mótorsmiðjan is situated in a neighborhood where there a lot of people living, they residents seem to like it because they think its good to have a motorcycle club in their backyard so thief’s would be less likely to invade the area. We also have a sticker in our window that reads: “You don’t want to break in here, we will find you before the police does”.

We have a small flea market here with used bikers outfits. Sometimes people are kind to give us used things that we sell. All the profits go to the organization for the basic things we need to pay for, rent, electricity the Internet and phone bills. If we have profited more than takes to run this place on daily basis, we give the profits away to charity. So I could proudly say this is an way, the Icelandic Red Cross Motorcycle club, for this reasons.

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What can you tell me lastly about the negative image that is often portrayed of the motorcycle culture in the media?

I can understand this negative portrait for sure, because if there is a story in the news on motorcycles, it’s mostly a story about a car chase, crimes or some bad accident someone had. Also in films, if there is a motorcycle club, it contains flocks of criminals doing this and that so its not very positive, the image is in my opinion very crooked in media culture.

“95% of bikers here in Iceland are indeed boy scouts”

People that know this culture know that 95% of bikers here in Iceland are indeed boy scouts. I am not kidding; they are the nicest people that I know. There are guys on Jeeps that are criminals too; you can find them in whatever group in the society. Imagine a criminal that drives a Benz for example, he is hopefully not giving all Benz owners in Iceland a bad name? Right? Well that’s what I think anyways.

We would like to thank you so much, Siggi Palli, for this great interview and yeah, we should encourage everybody to come here to Mótorsmiðjan?

Yes of course. Everybody is welcome, even though there is mainly testosterone in the air. The members of the Harley Davidson club have regular meetings here as our motorcycle clubs Þeyr and Hrafnar. We have actors, musicians, hippies and bums; you just name it the different characters that pop by to see us. We have all the range here in Mótorsmiðjan, that’s how it’s supposed to be.

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We leave with longings for café hangouts, tattoos, paintings made by Siggi Palli and a curiosity to know more about the society that Mótorsmiðjan is.

siggipalli.is
motorfactory.is
facebook.MótorSmiðjan
www.hrafnarmc.is

Interview: Ása Baldursdóttir
Photographs: Nanna Dís
Photographs of tattoos: Siggi Palli

Hnoss

Posted on Monday, January 21, 2013 by nannadis

We dropped by studio Hnoss in Toppstöðin, where we met two sparkling designers, illustrators and best friends, Droplaug Benediktsdóttir and Sísí Ingólfsdóttir. Founded in 2011, they aim for creating beautiful illustrations and transforming them into all kinds of products. Their wrapping paper and gift cards have been very popular and soon they plan on heading in the direction of product design for children, made out of wood.

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Where does the name Hnoss come from?

Sísí: When we started the process, we wanted to design something nostalgic together and we discovered this beautiful Icelandic name from mythology. The word means “precious” in Icelandic, we just felt it was fitting. And even though it’s Icelandic, it works well abroad even though it can be maybe a little hard to pronounce.

Droplaug: We also wanted to have the name short and easy to remember, we have noticed that the elderly people here really like it.

Sísí: Of course we Googled the name and we were a little bit bummed out that there URL hnoss.com had already been bought by a Japanese/Korean/Asian guy, and it costs a lot of money to buy it back. The URL hnoss.is was also occupied. But of course we registered the brand, and the categories that we wanted to design in.

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You are best friends I hear, how did this idea come up to start a design company?

Droplaug: Sísi had just arrived back home from her honeymoon in Thailand and yeah, I had newly finished my studies when we started, what I can say it wasn’t planned it just happened. We run a small business in a sense, the process is that we design smaller things that we can easily even out our budgets by selling, and we always try to keep the expensive s in a way that we can afford the next thing that we want to produce.

We originally planned to design children’s toys made out of Icelandic wood but that turned out to be too expensive. We then scaled down, and started designing gift paper. Today we have already designed six types of gift papers and many types of gift cards which we have on offer in five to six various stores in Reykjavík, so we are back to our original plan of designing children’s toys.

How has the combined design process been between the two of you?

Sísi: Well, it’s often like that one of us comes up with a design that the other one comments on, and has affects for example on the colour or the size of the design. We always both approve things before we send them out.

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How do you describe your style?

Droplaug: I am very fascinated by graffiti, street art and figures, but we both have similar kinds of styles so we connect very well when it comes to our sketches and designs. We have similar styles in a way, which I think is very interesting.

“We call our different designs; bábyljur, which means playfulness”

Sísi: We decided on our colour palette for our first Christmas gift papers production, 2 years back, that we couldn’t use strong colours because we were using this environmentally friendly paper. We want things to fit, and we always decide on these things together. We call our different designs; bábyljur, which means playfulness, which is perfect for our gift papers designs because we want to remind us that we are freely designing this and that, without having serious consequences if things are not working.

So, is the paper itself nature friendly?

Droplaug: We looked in to various printing companies, but we were immediately very fond of Guðjón Ó because he runs an ecological printers company here in Iceland. He introduced us to this recycled paper that we then decided to use for our designs. We liked the texture of this paper, and also for our concept in designing gift paper, that usually is disposable in a way. People wrap gifts in, and then they throw the paper away so we are happy to use this paper.

Sísi: But we are not necessarily going to print our designs here in Iceland, if we get a better deal abroad then of course we will. It is not good for a start-up like us to prize our products too high, just because we are paying for an inland service.

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What inspires you as designers?

Droplaug: I really like figurative elements, especially when I lived in London; I was very fascinated by street art and graffiti there. I remember a particular exhibition held by Tate Modern Museum that was all over the city that was very inspirational to me. I also intended to write my BA thesis about a stop-motion graffiti artist from Argentina that was very interesting and devoted in what he was doing. (here) He created so many great things, for example he made spiders crawl in to people´s houses and stuff like that. So basically this artist combined my two interest zones of drawing and animation into one. My teacher on the other hand didn’t like this idea as much, so I did something else for my BA thesis.

“I am a part of the Simpson generation”

But yes, this culture is not very visible here in Reykjavík; my friend came up with this idea that could make the city different in a way, he wanted to paint all the hydrants red with white dots, so we would have mushrooms in our city landscape all over the place. That would be interesting! It would also be refreshing to see more new ideas like this and of course graffiti, real graffiti, not tags. The tags annoy me in a way, but I’m not going to talk about that!

Sísi: I am a part of the Simpson generation; I had a dream to be one of their drawers actually when I was younger. I was a student in an acting school, but soon I found out that that didn’t suit me well enough. I was drawn to draw and design, me and Droplaug have that in common. It is different though when you are designing or drawing, that you keep in mind that you are producing a product that is to be sold. Me and Droplaug have sometimes illustrated or drawn something’s that are not appropriate, in relations to societal limits. But in our designs for our clients we are very appropriate.

Droplaug: Yes, we were thinking about opening an exhibition someday, to showcase our inappropriate art. This exhibition would be called in- appropriate, to refer both to the duality of the word, oh.. is this appropriate or if it’s just inappropriate in general.

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How are you received in the open market?

Sísi: We enjoy very much to participate in shows like Handverk og hönnun, Hrafnagil or Pop-Up markets, because then we can talk to our clients and they often express their opinions about our products. They often give us ideas about what they want us to design. For example they want us to design wallpapers, but that is a bigger production.

Droplaug: Yes, and also, its different to have a pattern permanently on or wall versus having a more complex art piece illustrated on the wall paper print. I think our prints, from our gift papers, would work more as wall stickers.

“I’ve heard it’s a very good meditation for people with ADHD”

I am drawn to your Origami that is all around us, do you sell those as well?

Droplaug: We sold a couple of those Origami’s before Christmas, but I love doing them. It’s so relaxing to make them, for example in front of the TV; it’s so repetitive and calm.

Sísí: I’ve heard it’s a very good meditation for people with ADHD.

Droplaug: We wanted to create lights or something out of this Origami´s. I learned how to make them on YouTube.

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How do you like to be a start- up here in Iceland?

Droplaug: We are so lucky to have so many good people around us, to advice us to run this business. But we are also taking things slow, so that has helped us a lot.

Sísí: We also have regular customers, other than our mothers! Sometimes people also drop by to our studio here in Toppstöðin, for a coffee and a chat. We sometimes also host open workshops that we advertise.

So finally, how is life outside work, do you spend a lot of time together?

Droplaug: Yes, we are together all the time! No, just kidding, we have the same group of friends though and we often spend quality time together.

Sísí: My children idolize Droplaug and her boyfriend, and we really think that is great.

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We wish the Hnoss team the best in the future, hoping to see their designs pop up in different kinds of mediums.

hnossdesign
facebook/hnossdesign

Hnoss likes:

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Interview: Ása Baldursdóttir
Photos: Nanna Dís

Pink Iceland

Posted on Monday, November 26, 2012 by nannadis

We met with entrepreneurs in Pink Iceland on a whisky Monday morning, in 101 Reykjavík to discuss the first locally gay travel and events company,Pink Iceland. Experts Eva María Þórarinsdóttir Lange, Birna Hrönn Björnsdóttir and Hannes Páll Pálsson, are a trio who work for and with the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community. Their company specializes in day tours, weddings, events and festivals and specially organized trips with a gay flair. They poured us some nice coffee, while we asked them about the concept, the events and trips, and their future plans of making Iceland Pink for life.

When did Pink Iceland become a reality?

Eva María: We started out in March 2011; I had been carrying this idea around in my head for a long time prior, years even. I had been studying tourism at the University and had a full time job so; there wasn’t any time to go all in with the idea. Last year we decided to participate in the Golden Egg entrepreneurship competition held in Iceland and that gave us the boost to evolve the idea and the business plan even further.

We were chosen the third best project of around 150 that participated. We started out the two of us, me and Birna, but we had been taking this role to be hosts and guides for many years before we started running a professional company. I started to be full time this year, and Birna part time, alongside with her studies to become a nurse. Hannes joined the team last summer.

“we are all multitaskers and we work together as a whole”

Do you have specific roles and titles in Pink Iceland?

Birna Hrönn: Well, you could say that we are all multitaskers and we work together as a whole.

Eva María: In small companies like ours, we all work very closely on the tasks and as we are building the company up, we of course sometimes work around the clock. Our job is also our passion. But I am the one that has the overview over our operation as a whole, and I have experience in marketing as well. I am the CEO and the marketing director of Pink Iceland.

Hannes Páll: I am a graphic designer and an event planner beforehand, but yes as they said we are all working very closely together on all tasks. We rather place emphasis on our brand, than us three as individuals in Pink Iceland. Our vision is very well established on our website, this certain personality that we in want to present out there in the big world.

Birna Hrönn: I have to have a title as well; maybe mine is the Wedding planner? But yes the brand and the pink in Pink Iceland is very political because it is referring to the pink upside down triangle that was used in Hitler’s concentration camps to label gay people. The triangle has ever since been used as a sign for gay right campaigns. We decided to use this heritage for our marketing material, because gay people instantly connect to the meaning, because it it’s not the classical rainbow that is banned in some countries.

Eva María: Yes, and then we use the name Iceland as a location beneficiary, so hence our brand Pink Iceland. If we look at our expansion possibilities in the future we can brand our concept by using the location, for example if we start operating in Denmark we would call it Pink Denmark.

So pink is a clever choice?

Eva María: In the gay culture, there is a concept I have to mention that is often referred to as the Pink economy. Our people do not necessarily connect the concept to femininity, but rather to this historical reference and the currency of the “pink dollar”. This means that business is being made with stores or companies that are gay friendly, sometimes stores give discounts to those who mention that they are Pink in one way or another.

“when we are welcoming foreign guests, we are also inviting them into our lives in a way”

You are a very small company, how is that going?

Eva María: Me and Birna are a couple, and therefore we spend a lot of time together. People frequently ask us, isn’t it risky to work together in your own company? But we are not at all worried, because the events and the concept of this company mirror our lifestyle in general. So when we are welcoming foreign guests, we are also inviting them into our lives in a way. It is also because the gay scene here in Iceland is not that big, so sometimes we invite our guests to join us for parties that are held by our friends, families or acquaintances.

Hannes Páll: Yes, Pink Iceland is a service company, so that somehow goes hand in hand with representing the gay culture locally. The three of us are best friends, so we are happy to invite people in our world here in Iceland on a personal service level.

“couples are experiencing recognition of their human rights when they get married here”

So, I hear that you offer wedding services for gay people here in Iceland?

Hannes Páll: The couples that come here are so happy with visiting a society that is so free and welcoming towards them. For us each experience is so precious, and we get to be a part of joyful and heartfelt moments of these people’s lives. It’s not always about complications and the legal standpoint in our guest’s home countries towards gay marriage that causes couples to come here to Iceland to get married. It’s more about the acceptance and the feeling of acceptance that people experience here. These couples are experiencing recognition of their human rights when they get married here, that is an invaluable feeling for them and for us of course as well. In our opinion, this is a strong marketing standpoint for Pink Iceland and generally for Iceland as a country.

Birna Hrönn: Our clients are so thankful, sometimes they leave us something really nice, Indian teas, murals, Canadian seasoning, a toy Coala bear and this and that, as a token of their gratitude they show us after the adventure of planning these peoples weddings.

Aside from the weddings, what requests do you get?

Eva María: People who want to visit Iceland approach us and our service interface is pre- planned so we can assure all guest that the “gay friendly” attitude of our services is secured. Sometimes the little things can seem annoying to travellers, for example if you are checking yourself in to a hotel with a partner, you are always asked if you want to change your booking to separate beds.

Hannes Páll: Yes, in that kind of situations the person has the feeling that he/or she has to come out, constantly. So we have notified our collaboratives beforehand, so the travelling experience will somehow be smoother for our guests. So the business is “gay friendly” beforehand.

Is this business model you offer popular in Scandinavia?

Eva María: We don’t know of many businesses like ours in Scandinavia. Well, gay tourism is always very bound to where it is located. That is why it is very popular for gay people to go on cruises because you are just living freely, in a protected environment out on the open sea where guests can be sure they won’t be assaulted for kissing their spouses and that the vacation is predejuce – free. Iceland is somehow like these gay cruises, it’s a great environment and people can be just like they are here.

“we are very happy to produce gay advertisements, for they are not so common in the world”

Birna Hrönn: This is why we want to portray a very strong message with our marketing material, we hire photographers that take photos of two boys or two girls enjoying themselves on our known locations on offer, for example in the Blue lagoon. So we are very happy to produce gay advertisements, for they are not so common in the world.

So, how is it to operate in Reykjavík?

Eva María: Operating in Reykjavík is fantastic, we work with Samtökin ´78, the National Queer Organization and the Reykjavík Gay Pride to make Reykjavík city the most gay friendly destination it can be. The last time I went to a conference where all the gay prides in the world meet up, people were so surprised that the mayor of Reykjavík would be so openly supportive of the gay community. And I just thought, well yeah, he dresses up in drag on our Gay pride and wears costumes to support Pussy Riot and what not…! This also reminds us on how far we are on our way for equality, even though we have a long way to go. Thirty years ago we were so far behind, so the society has been evolving very quickly here in Iceland.

Hannes Páll: This is exactly the reason why we are not operating in a low profile context, we offer an integrational service, we are not hiding offering services that are presented in a low profile way. We are proud and open in Pink Iceland!

What event has been the highlight for Pink Iceland so far?

Birna: I think we can all agree that we could mention the IGLA 2012 championship, a international gay and lesbian swimming competition where over 500 gay swimmers came here to Iceland last spring. They competed in swimming, synchronised swimming, dives and water polo to name a few categories. This was the biggest international swimming contest ever held in Iceland and the Icelandic water polo team competed for the first time in 41 years as a result. The dive competition in Sundhöllin was divine; it was amazing to see the diving divas on a roll. Actually, the situation was kind of surreal, there were 500 fit men, the swimmers were mostly male, from all over world walking the streets of Reykjavík openly gay without complications. It was so beautiful. Then we hosted a party in the Blue Lagoon, where we were the DJ´s and yes it was a great experience that we will never forget.

You won an award the other day here in Iceland?

Eva María: Yes, Pink Iceland received the 2012 Innovation award from the Travel Industry Association. The award was presented to us by the President of Iceland, and I couldn’t agree more with president Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson when mentioned in his speach that Icelanders tend to look at themselves from the inside and not always with the traveller’s eyes. But if we place ourselves in the shoes of gay people of the world, Iceland is a paradise on earth. We are used to be free here, but it is not at all the case in some other countries. We were so proud of our passion, which is to make Iceland a gay location in the tourist industry worldwide.

What has Pink Iceland to offer that you would like to mention?

Hannes Páll: We offer these Pink City walks, where we guide people around Reykjavík, telling stories about the gay history and the highpoints of Reykjavik city in general. We also host the International LGBT Winter festival, Rainbow Reykjavík, that will be held next in February. I recommend our website, you can “read all about it” there!

Eva María: We will also be running Pink December, another winter festival, for the first time. The concept is that it doesn’t matter when in December you will be travelling here, we will always provide a cultural experience for the guests. Especially when people travel alone, we are very open to plan things with little time in advance. We offer Eurovision concerts, Icelandic cuisine; daytrips and we introduce our guests to Icelandic cultural elements. We also want to play a little with humour so we offer two guides, well two old ladies in drag Dídí and Dúa, that are always trying to find spouses for their imaginary gay grandsons.

Birna Hrönn: I also want to mention our Pink parties that we plan on hosting several times each year, we hosted one around Iceland Airwaves and the next one will be held in relation to Rainbow Reykjavík. We want to strengthen the gay party scene in Reykjavík.

How is with your clients, do the often become your friends?

Birna Hrönn: Yes they quite often do, there is a special bond that we form with many of them. Our Pink guests are also making friends from within the group, for example through the Rainbow Reykjavík festival and we are very excited about the social aspect of our projects of course. We have been working very hard to market Iceland as a gay location; we are constantly looking up information online and sending emails to those who are listing up gay travel destinations to remind people that Iceland is a great option.

“the two Indian lesbians that held hands in Laugavegur, main street, cried when they realized that this was for the first time in 9 years that they could do that in public”

Eva María: Yes exactly we want to create this atmosphere, Pink Iceland is a character and we are small and professional and that is why we can be humorous in our services without being corporate. The little moments give us so much, for example our first clients, the two Indian lesbians that held hands in Laugavegur main street. They cried when they realized that this was for the first time in 9 years that they could do that in public. We are sincere in what we do, and we believe that Pink Iceland is here to stay.

We wish the dynamic trio in Pink Iceland all the best in the future of gay tourism, and we want to thank them for a great visit for us in team Snoop-Around in Eva María´s and Birna Hrönn´s apartment. We marked that as a sign on how personal they are, even though they run a professional company. Go Pink Iceland!

pinkiceland.is

Interview: Ása Baldursdóttir
Photographs: Nanna Dís

Fanney Sizemore

Posted on Sunday, November 18, 2012 by nannadis

We visited freelance graphic designer and illustrator Fanney Sizemore. She greeted us with warmth, pastries and coffee in her loft apartment in 101 Reykjavík. Her cat wandered around us and we took a look around the cosy apartment, noticing quite a lot of her own work on the walls. We had heard that this Polish poster-loving artist had a thing or two to talk about and we undressed her with our questions as following.

Have you always been drawing?

I drew a lot when I was a child and as a teenager I was an art student. After I graduated college I wanted to study illustration, but they didn’t teach that here in Iceland so I chose graphic design in the Icelandic Academy of the Arts. I went to Berlin as an exchange student and when I rambled the streets there I ended up in a Polish poster Art Gallery where I fell in love. Well, I fell in love with the poster medium I mean. I immediately decided then and there to do my Master thesis in Poland someday to study poster graphic design. My final project from the Art Academy where Polish posters, where I redesigned American movie posters in the Polish style, followed by my BA thesis about Polish posters and politics.

So, did you move to Poland?

Yes, actually I did. I got in to a Polish Art Academy, but the prerequisites were that I had to learn Polish for one-year prior. Then I studied for one year in a Master program with emphasis of making posters. I didn’t continue in the program, because my Polish wasn’t good enough.

Is it a hard language, and how did you manage in the school?

I can speak about the weather and other basic stuff, but i´m not that much into learning languages full time, so i probably could have worked harder on my studies. They say that it takes seven years to learn Polish well enough, so maybe I had the language skills like a four year old. And my accent was maybe not the best either. So to sum it up, the few theoretical courses I had to take where taught in Polish, but in other courses I had professors that spoke in English. I wasn’t sad to leave. Even though the school was wonderful and Krakow is a beautiful city, I was tired of the bureaucracy that I had to go through while I was studying there.

For example, when I was choosing my courses, I filled out an Index form and when we got grades I had to take the same form and wait outside the professor’s offices to get my card filled out. And then one professor told me to come at 10:00 o’clock and the next one at 12:00 o’clock, but I had to wait two hours for my first grade alongside with twenty other students and the professor didn’t show up. I was the only student who was upset about this, I thought it was disrespectful, but one of the students said, welcome to Poland! It took me around three weeks to find where I was supposed to attend classes and I ended up in a wrong poster class. This actually was better for me because it suited my interests better. However, I got to take both poster classes because of this confusion so I was really happy about that.

How do you like the poster culture here in Iceland compared to Poland?

In Iceland? I don´t think we really have a poster culture here. I think that is a result of how small the population is here, they are often a bit too commercal, people are often afraid of doing something different. But as soon as you study the poster culture in other countries, you see more exciting things happening. That has probably something to do with the fact, that they have a longer history in doing posters. Also when it comes to the size of the posters, here A3 is considered a poster, but to me it´s not a poster until it´s at least A2.

“A great design, in my opinion, is all about a good contrast between the picture and the typography”

Some designers overload the posters with information and the posters are overdesigned visually. But a great design, in my opinion, is all about a good contrast between the picture and the typography, but still maintaining the same feel. It´s a tricky balance. I think it is connected to advertisement philosophy, because if you want to get the attention, you need to design a clear message on a poster. What I love about the Polish poster culture is that there is more to it then meets the eye at first. You´ll get the basic clear message at first glance, but when you really study the poster, you can learn something new. I like to think, that is something I´ve taken with me, and effects the way I do my work.

I think the flyer culture is also lacking in space here in Iceland compared to for example Berlin where you can experience that culture in every café, everywhere where you can choose from 20 flyers to take with you. But everything is more and more mediated online, but I’m such a dinosaur, I personally want to create for print.

Is important to go abroad to absorb life?

Yes, I think so. I think it’s always important to seek education and/or experience abroad. I think it’s important for Icelandic people in general, to leave once in a while from the island.

“At the moment I really want to go to Kentucky because I have been studying my genealogy through my grandfather that was an American soldier”

At the moment I really want to go to Kentucky because I have been studying my genealogy through my grandfather that was an American soldier. My mother tried to find out more about him when she was younger, but only found out that he had died around 1955. I started snooping around back in 2007 on ancestry.com, but I only received a reply this year from someone called Ben Sizemore. I started looking at his family tree, and all the dates, locations and names matched with the information I had. But after I got more information, I´ve been looking more into the Sizemore family history, and I can say with 80% certainty that my great great great great great great grandfather was a Cheerokee Indian. So hopefully someday, I can take a road trip to Kentucky to discover my Indian roots!

I hope this is true; this will be an adventure for sure! But where do you get your inspiration from as an artist?

The Polish poster culture has inspired me with its ideology behind their making; I have a few up on my walls as you can see. They were made in the era of communism created by artists and the posters were loaded with symbols to get their messages against the situation across to the people.

I really adore the redesigning of American movie posters in Poland as well, because the design of the poster had nothing to do with the movie itself. I did a film poster myself once, in Polish style for Haukur Már when he released his film GE9N. I was really happy to do that because I really dislike the Hollywood element in Icelandic movie posters here in Iceland. They are all so literal. The poster becomes an independent medium when the design is special or has a deeper meaning behind it. Me, Haukur and Bogi worked on the consept for the poster together and ended up with a pampered police dog barking at the anarchist cat, and the lease goes out of the frame of the poster.

Which of your projects are you the most proud of?

I would have to say the whole idea that I worked with for the band Árstíðir, I had complete artistic freedom in fact for the project. They trusted me to interpret their music with my style. I didn’t want to be literal and make something like four leaves in different colours. I was rather excited to do something like portraying time as a whole in the world I created around their album.

“I was rather excited to do something like portraying time as a whole in the world I created around their album”

The band is actually very popular in Russia so they were really happy with the nature references of the pictures. Because they are acoustic I decided to bring in old school technology intertwined with romantic nature elements.

So what can you tell me about your colour palette?

I really love warm colours, like yellow, orange and greens. It´s strange to think about it, I see it when I look back, that I very often use the same colours. But I love vibrant and strong colours, sometimes my colour palette is a bit retro, but I guess I´m not much of a pastel person.

To turn to a basic question, how is it to be a freelance designer and illustrator in Iceland?

I started off by taking my portfolio and walked around the town and back, mainly to publishers, mainly because I really love to design book covers. I ended up walking from Bræðraborgarstígur to Árbær just in one day, and all of the sudden I realized that I was physically exhausted from trying to get projects.

“I have a really hard time working on pictures by someone else, I want to create and design from scratch”

It’s been OK, but I would love to work on more illustrative projects. In my spare time I try to work on illustrations for my own children´s story. I have a really hard time working on pictures by someone else, I want to create and design from scratch. I love to work with all sorts of footage or things in my surroundings, for example from nature. I like to use my scanner to work with elements that give a certain kind of texture.

Do you like to work with elements from our physical being?

Yes, I think it’s not interesting enough for me to be computer-based designer only. I think it gives the drawings and the designs a more personal effect. I think that my surroundings inspire me on a level that I am not fully aware of.

My inspiration comes from different kinds of mediums, once I did a project about Japanese Lolitas just right after I watched the movie Kamikaze girls. Once I got direct inspiration from the game Bubbles, without realizing it until afterwards, but these are just examples on how the directness of things can affect my designs.

But what about yourself, you aren’t a Lolita yourself miss Sizemore, and what can you tell us about your name?

No, not really. I redesigned myself this summer so I like this look a lot with the hair and all. I love trees and animals as well so that is also an element in my style as an artist. I can go on and on where my interests lie and I am a complete bookworm. I like to escape the everyday life into the fantasy books I read, and in a way I guess my work portray a way to do that as well.

Regarding my name, I started using the Sizemore name when I was 18 years old because that comes from my mother’s side of the family and I grew up with her. All my siblings have changed their last name to Sizemore except one.

“Here in Iceland it´s about knowing the right people, because it´s such a small society. You have to be your own PR guy”

You are working in a studio somewhere else?

Yes, I share a studio on Laugavegur 25 with product designer Ragnheiður and more people. I really like to be around people that can be my second eyes. Especially because I have editing problems.

Here in Iceland it´s about knowing the right people, because it´s such a small society. You have to be your own PR guy, so to speak, which has kind of been my problem because I’m not so good at small talk or mingling in the “right” parties. I guess I could be called a mixed media artist/designer, and I have a pretty strong independent style, and hopefully the world will see that one day.

We wish Fanney all the best in the future, wishing her artistic abilities to size more in Iceland as well as in the Universe.

fanneysizemore.roxer
facebook/FanneySizemoredesigner

Interview: Ása Baldursdóttir
Photographs: Nanna Dís

Dynfari

Posted on Thursday, November 15, 2012 by nannadis

Jóhann Örn Sigurjónsson and Jón Emil Björnsson form two man atmospheric/post – black metal band Dynfari, which was formed in the fall of 2010 and is now releasing its second album Sem skugginn. We drove up to their rehersal place in Hafnarfjörður, and met with them and asked them questions about music, metal, clichés and life.

When did you start playing music?

Jón Emil: I started out learning on classical guitar, and when i went in college at Selfoss, i met Jóhann and we and my uncle which had the similar taste of music and started jamming mostly Death metal like Autopsy and Death.

Jóhann: I started playing the bass when I was 16 years old, but the first band I played in was a death metal band in 2009, that was called Sacrilege. Jón Emil joined that band a few months later. We started playing together and forming our band, Dynfari, a year later, we had same ideas about music creation and that was great. We had a great time playing in Sacrilege, but it didnt evolve into being something more somehow. We started right away to plan recordings for Dynfari, which we of course financed ourselves.

Jón Emil: We were so fortunate to work with Árni Zoega, he is such a great musician, he helped us with the first album from A- Z. He is known in the scene here in Iceland, and he recorded our album and we are so grateful for our debut to be in his hands.

Are you guys educated in music, or self taught?

Jóhann: I am completely self taught, but I of course think its very important to seek education in music for whatever music you then create. I learned from the internet a lot. I mainly play the guitar now, but I started out as a bass player. But that is kinda funny because I don´t even own a guitar, I just borrowed one.

Jón Emil: I learned from a teacher on classical guitar as i said earlier, which helped of course be musician and so on, Then i kinda began playing drums when we started with Dynfari mostly because we were only two, though i look at it as my second instrument. But now i am a student in an Icelandic music school FÍH, studying percussion.

So what about other instruments?

Jóhann: Well, I also played the electric organ on our album that is soon out, and of course I am the vocalist in our band. I am not afraid of playing various instruments, my grandfather gave me a harmonica recently and we are thinking about playing that on our next album, we are experimental. In our eyes, its not that interesting to form a black metal band, and only play black metal all the time because that has been done, times million. We dare to do things differently and we want to create something new, even though we play black metal in that sense.

So black metal in Iceland, what bands are there?

Jón Emil: The Icelandic band Sólstafir, which have the roots to it, but they are just one of few that we could talk about. Well, my sister has a child with their guitar player, so my connection to this band is on a personal level.

Jóhann: Yes, in reviews they sometimes talk about us in a way that we are a band from Iceland, just like the band Sólstafir, but we are not trying to be them even though we respect them tremendously. But yeah, we listen to all sorts of music, black metal, and what yes, we really like Bonnie Tyler for example. Her rock ballads are amazing. I personally think that I listen to music that has some kind of a meaning, not the mass produced stuff that is the mainstream if you know what I mean. Heavy metal in itself is so complex and various, so many subgenres and influences…

Jón Emil: I listen to everything, basically. My roots lie in the old stuff though, the desert 70´ts rock and so, we could talk about music for months if you would have time for us. We both listen to all sorts of music.
Dynfari will always be our first band, but you never know in what musical direction we will be heading towards. I mean, we are not playing black metal constantly on practices, we also play around with all kinds.

Some people say its not music, only noise. What can you tell me about prejudices towards the music?

Jóhann: Its mainly based on ignorance, I´d say. We are very well aware that this music is not everybody´s cup of tea. Music is of that kind, some like and some don´t and that is it´s very nature. There are very strong feelings portrayed in music that is that loud, and I feel that its very hard to record music like ours properly because its not that accessible in a way.

Jón Emil: Exactly, you would not hear music like ours on the radio on daily basis ….

Jóhann: Our songs are not going to be played in between news programs on Bylgjan, local radio station, that is for sure.

You definently look the part, you both life the lifestyle of being metal guys. Are you going to change that?

Jón Emil: No, its a lifestyle, its like being a hippie or have dreadlocks.

Jóhann: I think it is a statement, being a male with long hair. I can feel the pressure here in Iceland, I mean boys should cut their hair. But this is very natural to me, we were born to be this way, its a cultural thing to cut the hair in my opinion.

Jón Emil: Yes, for example in Iran you would be stoned for not cutting your hair, I think the culture there would not allow it. So we are lucky here in a way …

You both come from the south, Selfoss, that is not the capital of dark music is it?

Jón Emil: I really don´t know, I don´t think so.

Jóhann: Well, maybe there are some Metallica cover bands around or something, but I really doubt that there are bands in the hiding from there playing anything heavier. We have never even played in Selfoss, there would never be anyone that would even show up! Well maybe our family members but that´ts it. Well actually we did get an invitation to play with a couple of other bands on a gig that was supposed to be held in Pakkhúsið, the youth center, but it was cancelled. We recorded demo´s there with Sacrilege in 2010, but yeah, that´s basically it for us in relations to Selfoss.

So, what do you guys do in life, other than making music?

Jóhann: I am a student, in the University which takes a lot of my time. Other than that, I like to read, play computer games, and play music. I recently was diagnosed with autoimmunity, which has taken a toll of my time in life. I take steroids when I get sick, and other medications as well all year round.

Jón Emil: I lived out in the country site, and was a carpenter. But moved to Reykjavík recently so i could go in school here and focus more on music.. So in life, yeah, my life is mainly about music.

When is your new album coming out?

Jóhann: It is just out now, we will play on our release concert on November 17th, in Gamli Gaukurinn. We are very happy about the album. The only thing bothering us was a mistake at the pressing plant, when the album was pressed the last song, supposed outro was made first on the album. We would of course want to play abroad, we are only two in the band and usually we have two more with us for live gigs. Hjálmar, my cousin, usually plays the bass with us and Jón Þór, a superbly skilled guitar player, plays the guitar, we rent the rehearsal studio together with his progressive metal band, Daedra.

Jón Emil: We have been assigned with this Italian record label, and the album is coming out in 1000 copies all around the world, which is a big step for us because our first album came out in 50 copies.

What about your fans, have received fan mails?

Jóhann: Yes we have gotten messages from Japan and Hong Kong, then there is a guy from Columbia that is working for a Chineese record label is very supportive and wanted to help us because he really likes our sound. But yes, I think people that listen to this kind of music, know who we are here in Iceland so we are happy to play for them on our release concert.

We drove off wishing that we would be able to hear more of their music, excited to attend their realease concert. We wish them all the best for the future of metal music! Dynfari release concert of the album Sem Skugginn published by Aura Music/ Code666 Records, on November 17th at 21:00 oclock at Gamli Gaukurinn. The night will start out with a listening party, followed by a Dynfari concert at 22:00 oclock. Warm up bands are Hindurvættir from Akureyri and Auðn.

facebook.com/Dynfari
dynfari.bandcamp

Interview: Ása Baldursdóttir
Camera / Editing / photos: Nanna Dís

Frosti Gnarr Studio

Posted on Friday, November 9, 2012 by nannadis

On a frosty Friday afternoon we dropped by Frosti Gnarr Studio located in a cosy industrial environment by the sea, close to Grótta and were greeted by the studio’s staff, one enthusiastic dog and one little helper. The studio started out as a one-man show, but it is now run by three close friends that all have very different backgrounds and roles. We sat down with Frosti to talk about the concept of the Studio, their friendship, their art magazine and upcoming book publishing.

So, you are one big family here at the Studio?

Well, we all have quite different roles in our company and we have a great professional relationship even though we are close friends. I studied graphic design in the Netherlands, and when I moved back home I became a freelance graphic designer. After a while, I contacted my friend Peppi, and we decided to join forces to run a Studio together since he had a business background he took on the role of overseeing the business side of the company. I am the creative director, and Peppi loves excel so we make a perfect match.

Our friend Hilmir is a filmmaker, and he is my right hand and artistic advisor. He touches things and has to know how they are made. He knows paper types, and programs, well he basically knows how things work. The three of us are the oldest and best of friends. And sometimes we have additional company at the studio, for example my little brother is here visiting now.

I noticed that you have done branding for your clients, what can you tell us about that?

Well, branding means that we create an overall visual identity for the client, that relates prominently to their brand. We have worked on branding projects for some commercial clients, but we mainly work on smaller projects with artists and musicians to evolve their identity or brand, help them visualise what it is that they stand for.

So, isn’t it hard for you to combine your vision, with that of your clients when they already know what they want?

It can certainly be very tricky, for people with different backgrounds to work together on any project, but this process of being able to deliver a message through imagery is what graphic design is all about. We work on such a variety of projects in this studio, design for stores, branding, CD covers, books, posters, visuals for TV shows and much more that all demand that we communicate the message of the clients through our own vision of what graphic design should be.

What has been the most exciting project, you have worked on in the Studio?

I would definitely say that it is Grotta Zine, our magazine that we are so excited about. Our readers are mainly artists, and the magazine in itself is important as an archive about Icelandic artists of our times. We are documenting the art and the artists that we feel are not accessible enough, we are collecting artistic work in a catalogue.

Who will be the next artist portrayed in Grotta Zine?

Atli Bender, our next featured artist is on his final year in graphic design in the Icelandic Art Academy but will mainly showcase photography and geometrical screen print experiments in his edition of Grotta.

The title of the Magazine is sprung from our Studio’s location because we are situated here by the sea near Grótta but we were also thinking about the Italian meaning of the word, which is cave, and refers to Plato’s allegory of the cave. The artists we feature are those that we believe have been released from their shackles and have seen beyond the illusions.

So, does the surroundings here in Seltjarnarnes near Grótta, inspire you?

Yes, we are so happy to be outside of 101 Reykjavík. We sometimes walk by the ocean and Grótta lighthouse, which is in itself a magical place. We are inspired by the surroundings of course, and from being a part of this industrial area.

So, what other projects are you currently working on now?

Well, we are working on a book featuring the work of photographer Ragnar Th. Sigurðsson. We are focused on using his range and prolificacy as an artist and journalist as a medium for narrating small stories and juxtapositions in urban and rural Iceland. To narrate this we use the duality of each spread. We want our presence to be felt in this book as long as it complements the artist’s work. In essence, that is what we are trying to achieve in all of our projects, be a voice that amplifies the voice of the client.

Our other big book project “Only Human” should also be mentioned. We are collecting visual art, articles, photographs and poetry that relate to the subject of human limitations and our attempts at rising above them. We have confirmed participants such as Matthew Barney, Anya Jansen, Jenny Morgan, Richard Saja, Brian Walker and Arjen Mulder to name a few. This is a project that we work on in our free time and are not rushing. The artists participating either contribute work that fits the concept, or create pieces specifically for the book.

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Interview: Ása Baldursdóttir
Photos: Nanna Dís

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