Last Words: Remembering Those Who Passed

In the past year we lost some great people who, in one way or another, were in the orbit of this publication. We’d like to pay tribute to them here, as inadequate as that is.

Futuregrapher (Árni Grétar Jóhannesson), 1983-2025

Electronic musician and record label founder Árni Grétar, or Futuregrapher, was an incredible driving force behind the electronic grassroots scene in Iceland for a long time, and a brilliant musician whose solo work and collaborations we covered frequently. He leaves a void in the Icelandic music scene that will be all but impossible to fill.

Ásgeir H. Ingólfsson, 1976-2025

Ásgeir was one of the handful of people who contributed to this publication’s first summer, back in 2003, on football, of all things. He then contributed frequently in the following years on his favourite subject: films. Ásgeir was a delight to talk to and to be around. When he knew the end was coming, he organised a get-together in his hometown in Akureyri. He passed the night before the planned get-together. He was 48. His friends showed up anyway in his memory.

Tolli (Þorleifur Kamban Þrastarson), 1981-2025

While still a student of graphic design, Tolli helped us design and lay out this magazine in the summer of 2004. He was an exceptionally sweet man to be around, and had an incredible knack for designing and building things himself, including a house for his family — which included nine kids —  in Ölfus.

Goddur (Guðmundur Oddur Magnússon), 1955-2026

The last contact we had with Goddur was this spring when we sought his help in tracking down a design of a swimming pool etiquette poster from the 80s. He was — of course — of great help. Goddur was the graphic designer in Iceland and tutored the last few generations of graphic designers in this country. Incredibly well-versed in the history of graphic design and symbolism in general, he was the person everyone turned to for advice, guidance or general knowledge about his trade. Through his teaching, he inspired this magazine’s most famous cover, of an immigrant wearing Iceland’s national costume. Above is a picture of him, designed by Siggi Eggerts, for the cover of this magazine in 2011.