DesignMarch
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PHOTOS: The 2019 Reykjavík Grapevine Design Awards
Icelandic DesignMarch is almost here and Grapevine kicked it off with a bang last night at our annual Reykjavík Grapevine Design Awards. With a program full of everything from lectures about Mars and more to an exhibit redefining Nordic design, this DesignMarch…
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The Kickstarter Of DesignMarch: DesignTalks Is Here To Spark A Conversation
We may not realise it, but design is in everything we do. The clothes we wear, the beds we sleep on, the food we opt for at a convenience store—everything we see and touch has been crafted by someone else. DesignTalks kicks…
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From Fabric To Fruition: The Structural Designs Of ‘Another Creation’
Fashion designer Ýr Þrastardóttir quickly made a name for herself in the Icelandic fashion scene with her first collection in 2015. Her label, Another Creation, is now known as one synonymous with structural tailoring, high-end fabric, and innovative multifunctional pieces. Her newest…
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Design Diplomacy Sparks Dialogue Between Artists
While DesignMarch is primarily a celebration of the best of Icelandic Design, the program is anything but insular. It’s quite the opposite really, and this particular iteration of the annual event presents a plethora of international collaborations. From the 1+1+1 collective—which brings…
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More Than Meets The Ear: Mengi Expands To Object Design
MENGI is more than a music venue. A tucked away space on Óðinsgata, it has, since opening its doors in 2013, become a cultural centre of sorts, hosting exhibitions, experimental multimedia collaborations, and all sorts of creative events, alongside a weekly concert…
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The Pleasure Of Craftsmanship: Ten Years Of Kronkron Shoes
For the past ten years, Hugrún Árnadóttir and Magni Þorsteinsson have been producing some of the most creative shoes ever made in Iceland. Their shoes are so distinctive that even the fashion illiterate can recognise one of their designs on sight. Through…
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Life Behind Bars: How Design Can Reach Out To Prisoners
There aren’t that many people in the Litla Hraun prison located in Eyrarbakki, on the South coast of Iceland—less than a 100. Theirs is a tedious life: if there is something to do this month, there might not be in two weeks…
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Design For A World At A Crossroad: DesignTalks 2018
Design, to differentiate it from art, is all about function. Aesthetics, or the visual, the beautiful, is but one of many ways a thing can be functional. Sometimes the simplest way to serve a function is absolute plainness, absolute clarity. This is…
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What To Do? Our Picks from the DesignMarch Programme
The wine is waiting to be swirled and quaffed, and the overt opinions ready at the gate. The design world is getting set for DesignMarch 2017. With the festival is bearing down fast, we want to prepare you for the coming canapé…
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In The Time Of If: Siggi Odds Brings Back the Runes
“If I hadn’t been in design, I would probably be an archeologist,” says Icelandic designer Siggi Odds, “out there digging up Viking swords and stuff.” Siggi spent the first part of his life in Vancouver, living on the University of British Columbia…
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Making The Vagina Shameless: Michèle Degen Is Smashing Taboos
Would you believe it: the “V-word” is still a taboo subject. That’s right, I’m talking about the part of the human anatomy responsible for pleasure, pain, and even giving life. The part society can’t seem to talk about except in hushed tones.…
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Artist Talk: Designer Ágústa Sveinsdóttir
At DesignMarch 2016, Ágústa and Elísabet Karlsdóttir—who together make up the powerful design team ALVARA—presented a jewelry line called ‘Silfra’. In December they launched their second collaborative project, the clothing line USELESS. We asked Ágústa about her recent work and working as…
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Static in the Air, Words on the Page: Or Type at DesignMarch
Last Thursday, the first night of DesignMarch, central Reykjavík was humming with openings of various types. Among them was the Or Type Reading Room exhibit at Mengi: a presentation of new and recent typefaces by the Icelandic/Danish design duo GUNMAD, with two…
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President Praises Pirate Party, Jungle Bars For Icelandic Innovation
At a DesignMarch event held at the Presidential residence of Bessastaðir last weekend, the President addressed a throng of local and international artists and designers to offer his take on Icelandic innovation. From music to film, and from business to politics, his…
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Jonathan Barnbrook On Iceland, Japan, Working With Bowie
Jonathan Barnbrook is a London-based veteran designer, creating numerous iconic typefaces such as Priori and Mason. Over his long career, he’s worked with everyone from the Occupy group to Sydney Biennale to David Bowie. We caught up with him just before his…
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Stories From The Earth And Sea: Helga Mogensen’s Driftwood Jewellery
Helga Mogensen welcomes me into her workshop, which is pretty much what I’d imagine a designer’s workshop to look like. It could be an orderly chaos of tools, materials and colours which make perfect sense to Helga—or simply an unruly mess, it’s…
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Anna Diljá Designs A Hotplate That “Melts”
As part of DesignMarch, artist Anna Diljá Sigurðardóttir is presenting her exhibition ‘Hofsjökull Hitaplatti’ (‘Hofsjökull Hotplate’) at Loft Hostel. The work shows how the glacier Hofsjökull will shrink over the next 300 years due to climate change. In anticipation of the event,…
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Wow, Jessica Walsh Answered Some Questions Sourced From Some Of The Fancier Parties To Iceland’s Design Community
Hi Jessica, Ms. Walsh, sorry to be emailing you out of the blue like this. And, while you’re travelling? So rude. Either way, feel free to disregard this missive if you are busy with other things. Here’s the thing: I am editor…
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Does Iceland Need A New Flag?
A graphic designer, an instructor at the Iceland Academy of the Arts, and the president of the Icelandic Association of Graphic Designers, Hörður Lárusson has worked on an extensive and diverse range of design projects. He has a particular interest, however, in…
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Shrug Away The Stale Winter Torpor…
There is something incredibly alluring about the month of March: sometimes it’s the fresh and crispy scent of spring that lingers on the streets on sunny afternoons; other times it’s the lack of any sign that summer is approaching. One thing is…