Reykjavík Grapevine - 14.03.2014, Blaðsíða 54

The Reykjavík Grapevine
Design Awards 2014
…For Best Product, Product Line, Project
and Fashion Design of 2013
For our fourth annual Design Awards, we once again rounded up a small panel of
design-savvy folks to help us determine what was most cutting-edge in 2013. The
following are the results: winners and runners-up in each of the four categories as
well as designers whose projects this year bode for even more exciting work in the
future. Well done, all of you!
This year’s winning project actually
debuted at DesignMarch last year. “Eins
og i sögu” or “Story Delicious,” as it
was called in English, was a full sensory
experience, a three course meal which
unfolded as a site-specific narrative
staged at Reykjavík’s Culture House.
The result of a collaboration between
experience designer Kristín María
Sigþórsdóttir, production designer Tin-
na Ottesen, and radio producer Gerður
Jónsdóttir, Story Delicious invited
guests on an “interactive journey, where
a story unfolds with every bite.” Blend-
ing, among other things, the aesthetics
of pagan folklore with crocheted table-
cloths, silver candelabras, and even an
edible wall of meringues, the designers
transformed the Culture House’s rather
industrial basement into a series of
elegant and richly imagined “chapters.”
There was also an element of social
engagement, wherein guests, served
communally or in unexpected presenta-
tions—such as tall kebabs staked at
the end of tables—were encouraged
to “share and help each other figure
out how to approach the meal,” Kristín
María says. Several of our panelists who
attended the event praised it for exem-
plifying “real food culture in Iceland,”
for its minute attention to detail, and for
its communal atmosphere. Not just a
meal, it was “an event in and of itself,”
someone commented. “I felt like I had
arrived somewhere abroad."
This collection of superbly crafted
glass organs was created in col-
laboration with the Vitra Design
Museum with the hope of raising
awareness about organ donation.
It’s a simple, but clever metaphor:
the delicate, transparent material
reminds viewers of the fragility, vul-
nerability, and ultimately, frailty, of
their own bodies. The brain piece is
particularly dramatic with its trans-
parent peel covering the pale-co-
loured flesh, reflecting the light in
striking ways. One of the panelists
found Glerlíffæri “totally genius,”
and everyone agreed that the line’s
strong concept and mission would
help it grow in the future.
Runners Up:
Bleika Slaufan
Created by
Brandenburg
Last year, the ad agency Brandenburg
was hired to find unique ways to
promote Cancer Awareness Month in
Iceland, a project they approached with
considerable creativity. To start with, the
company commissioned 50,000
specially-made jewelry ribbons, and also
hosted a celebrity auction for which
artists, public figures, and politicians
were invited to donate special goods and
services. (Hugleikur Dagson drew a
unique pink comic for the cause and Of
Monsters and Men’s Nanna Bryndís
Hilmarsdóttir auctioned a guitar, for
instance.) To crown their efforts,
Brandenburg asked the women’s
basketball team Valur and the Seltjar-
narnes rescue team to assist in the
creation of (what they claim is) the
world’s largest pink ribbon created to
raise awareness for breast cancer—an
undertaking which required 500 litres of
pink paint spread over a ribbon-shaped
highway overpass: roughly 1,600 square
metres of asphalt. Panelists praised
Brandenburg for working with a wide
variety of individuals and organisations
on the project, for coming up with a
unique approach that was both
inexpensive and environmentally-friend-
ly, and for putting a new spin on the
typical pink ribbon initiatives.
The Silent Village Collection
Created by
Brynjar Sigurðarson
In order to complete his diploma project
at the Iceland Academy of the Arts in
2008, Brynjar Sigurðarson wanted to “go
to a different environment and make
something,” but he wasn’t sure just
where to go—or what, even, he wanted
to make. That’s when his father, a coastal
engineer, suggested Vopnafjörður, a
fishing village of roughly 600 people “at
the deepest end of a fjord” in Northeast
Iceland. In the village, Brynjar chatted
with local knitters, visited a mink farm,
and hung around with old-timers at the
harbour, eventually meeting Hreinn, a
retired shark hunter who taught him
rope lashing, a method used to make
fishing nets. Inspired by both the beauty
and the practicality of the technique,
Brynjar created ‘The Silent Village,’ a
furniture collection which was exhibited
at the prestigious Galerie Kreo in Paris.
All of the collection’s one-off objects—
including tables, mirrors and book-
shelves—incorporate ropes, fur, fishing
hooks and lures which he sourced from
Vopnafjörður. While perhaps not suited
for every living room, the panelists
appreciated ‘The Silent Village’ for its
uniqueness. “It’s especially strong
because it's so different,” one panellist
noted. “It’s not something that one sees
elsewhere.”
We Look Forward
To More In 2014:
Líffærafræði Leturs
Created by
Sigríður Rún Kristinsdóttir
Originally created for Sigríður’s graphic
design graduation project for the Iceland
Academy of the Arts, ‘Líffærafræði
letursins’ or ‘The Anatomy of Letters,’
has by all accounts impressed viewers
all over Reykjavík during its run at the
Spark Design Space. For the project,
Sigríður brought every letter in the
Icelandic alphabet to life, drawing them
as unique skeletons, each with reference
to the bone structures of ancient lizards
and birds. The panel agreed that this
project is probably most intriguing to
graphic design nerds, but were happy to
see that something so niche could
appeal to the general public.
Project Of The Year:
Story Delicious, a “food experience”
Created by Kristín María Sigþórsdóttir, Tinna Ottesen,
and Gerður Jónsdóttir
Product Line Of The Year:
Glerlíffæri
Created by Sigga Heimis

Runners Up:
As We Grow clothing line
Created by
Gréta Hlöðversdóttir, María Th.
Ólafsdóttir and Guðrún Ragna
Sigurjónsdóttir
Favouring timeless styles and made with
soft all-natural materials, the As We Grow
children’s clothing label drew its
inspiration from a beloved sweater that
was for years passed among the
designers’ children—boys and girls of
different ages living in three different
countries. So too are the simple and cosy
cardigans, sweaters, tunics, leggings,
vests, scarves, and mittens designed to
last and be loved by children for
generations, perhaps. Most of the items
are made from 100% BSCI certified
Peruvian alpaca wool with classic knit
patterns and earthy colors ranging from
mossy green and tomato red to camel,
navy, gray and ivory. “This is a product
that works,” the panellists conclude. “It
embodies good quality and design that
lasts as the kids grow.”
IIIF Accessory lines
Created by
Agla Stefánsdóttir, Sigrún
Halla Unnarsdóttir and Thibaut
Allgayer
IIIF is a collective of two Icelandic fashion
designers and a French industrial
designer who collaborate on several lines
of products, accessories and clothing.
One of their fundamental principles is
that “less is more” and their collections’
clean lines clearly exemplify this
approach. A simultaneous versatility and
durability make the backpack/tote in blue
reindeer leather and canvas a stand-out
item, while the pendants fashioned with
reindeer bones and delicate chains
encompass both daintiness and an
almost folkloric vitality. Several panelists
were taken with the prettiness and
precision of these pieces, while others
commented that they also have the
potential for commercial success with a
wide audience.
We Look Forward
To More In 2014:
Whale- and reindeerbone jewelry
Created by
Fiona Cribben
This Irish designer uses whale teeth and
reindeer bones to bring novelty and
distinction to her tribal collection. Her
designs transfigure these traditional
materials, giving them a strong, urban
vibe. The jewels, mounted with fine
metals, exude class, while the use of
bones and sharp points also evokes a
punk rawness. The panelists were
interested to see a foreigner’s creative
take on traditional Icelandic materials.
Iceland Seen Through Foreign Eyes
Created by
Karin Kurzmeyer
“Iceland seen through foreign eyes” is an
illustrated collection of quirky factoids
about Iceland as interpreted by Swiss art-
ist Karin Kurzmeyer and her Estonian col-
league Piret Uustal. “Cats rule the town”
is only one of the many idiosyncratic
observations about life in Iceland which
they’ve brought to life on paper. Their
visual puns also play on the giant wheels
that are typical of so many Icelandic vehi-
cles, as well as Icelanders’ rather flexible
definition of punctuality. Karin’s previous
series of postcards and drawings, “Very
serious pictures from Iceland,” were the
first product launched by design store
Hundahólmi in 2012, many of which are
still available as t-shirts or cleaning cloths
for glasses and iPhone screens. With
this new collection, which is very likely
to be purchased as a travel memento,
the panel thought that Hundahólmi had
elevated the typical Icelandic souvenir to
something with much more quality and
substance than say, a stuffed puffin.
Nanna Dís