Words by

The Usual Gang of Idiots

“WHOA, THOSE COVER IMAGES OF ICONIC REYKJAVÍK BUILDINGS SURE ARE COOL LOOKING. IF SOMEONE WERE TO SLAP THEM ON A T-SHIRT, I WOULD SURELY PURCHASE SEVERAL”

Guess what: you’re in luck. We went and made you some artisanal t-shirts sporting those iconic Reykjavík buildings on our cover (along with some additional designs that didn’t make the cover but are still totally cool). You will soon be able to get them at through our website and also probably at some store eventually, when we get around to talking to the store people.

What’s on those t-shirts?
Reykjavík, a few iconic buildings. They are usually further apart though.
Kaffibarinn, a rare Reykjavík nightlife constant
Hlemmur, Reykjavík’s answer to Grand Central Station
Bæjarins bestu, that famous hot dog stand you keep hearing about

What’s so special about those buildings?
Two of those buildings are what we call “REYKJAVÍK INSTITUTIONS”, or places that are just consistently great, again and again. And again.

The third hasn’t exactly been a must-visit through the years (unless you rely on the bus to get around, in which case you kind of have to go through there every once in a while) but it’s been around FOREVER and it really is one of the city’s iconic buildings at this point.

Who are karlssonwilker and why did they make all those nice drawings of iconic Reykjavík buildings?
Regular Grapevine readers and design enthusiasts alike ought to be familiar with fancy New York-based design firm karlssonwilker by now. Since it was founded by Icelander Hjalti Karlsson and Jan Wilker from Germany in late 2000, the firm has worked with all sorts of prestigious people (and The Reykjavík Grapevine), and they have a bar in their office, too.

They collaborated with illustrator Stephan Walter to make all those nice drawings of iconic Reykjavík buildings because they could, that’s why.

Hlemmur, Reykjavík’s answer to Grand Central Station

Bæjarins bestu, that famous hot dog stand you keep hearing about

Kaffibarinn, a rare Reykjavík nightlife constant

Reykjavík, a few iconic buildings. They are usually further apart though.

The Grapevine Tote Bag

Tired of constantly holding all of your stuff? Put it in a bag! For example this one!

When you’ve chosen the merch you want, you can use this button to finish the transaction:

If you’re looking for more Grapevine merchandise, click here!