– a blog about my work, research, ideas, typography and passion for books.

BERLIN IN MAY

31.05.2024

TRAVEL, WORK AND INSPIRATION | Ten days in Berlin, bringing my design work from home, writing an application for a new project, visiting Fotografiska Berlin and The Buchstabenmuseum, drinking brilliant coffee, and buying too many books. It was a fantastic trip filled with interesting people, including the inspiring and talented Anja Lutz. Anja is an art book designer and co-founder of the publishing company The Green Box. She also founded A–Z, a space in Mitte Berlin dedicated to experimental graphic design.

I´ll be back soon.

buchstabenmuseum.de/en/, thegreenbox.net/en/en-2, a-z-presents.com/

inspiration and writing retreat in norwich

02.12.2019

PHD RESEARCH / INSPIRATION | Bringing my Mac, books, many articles and proper shoes to Norwich for a few days to write, think, be inspired, walk, drink good coffee – write more, read more, think more, drink more good coffee

– an excellent way to be inspired.

INSPIRATION AND WORK IN LONDON

20.06.2017

TRAVEL AND INSPIRATION  |  Staying in London is always great, working in nice cafes, visiting bookstores and Tate Modern, walking along the streets looking for signs, typography and illustrations.

OFFF 2016 Barcelona

04.06.2016

Barcelona

TRAVEL AND INSPIRATION | OFFF takes place in Barcelona annually and is inviting all those who are eager to learn to participate and get inspired in a three-day journey of conferences, workshops, activities and performances. It’s a combination of Offline/Online designers, Motion Designers, Thinkers, Sound Designers, Graphic Designers, Theorists, Developers, Professionals, Students… Putting the titles aside, OFFF is made for the curious.

Together with author Gunn Merete Roll and graphic designer Kirsten Stangvik I went to the OFFF festival in Barcelona in May to get three days of inspiration. Barcelona itself is fantastic and also very inspiring; Ten days looking at outstanding architecture, signs, typography, colors, the beach, tasting good coffee and food – just to mention something.

work and inspiration in london

20.04.2016

bildecollage_London_580px

TRAVEL AND INSPIRATION | Went to London for a week to work and get inspiration. Bringing my Mac, working in cafes in my neighborhood, wandering around to look at typography, signs, visiting museums, galleries, bookstores, listening to Messiah by Handel in Royal Albert Hall, walking, drinking coffee. Having a great time. 15 years since I went to London College of Communication. Nice to be back.

WORKING IN NEW YORK

19.02.2015

New-York

WORK | A new client including two days workshop, resulted that I had to go to Brooklyn, New York. In familiar style I extended the trip with a week where I worked in different places, letting me be inspired by The Big City; wall illustrations, typography, galleries, shops, manholes, people, coffee, food, architecture and everything else New York has to offer.

It was freezing cold, but the coffee and the porridge was warm and delicious.

SIX DAYS IN BERLIN

30.12.2014

Berlin

TRAVEL AND INSPIRATION  |  It´s always a great inspiration to visit Berlin. Even though it was a short trip this time, I brought my Mac and did some work. Otherwise I spent the days to let me inspire by everything Berlin has to offer; shops, wall illustrations, posters, signs, coffee, typography, smoothie, colours, the language and food to mention a few things. I also bought some books, one was Designing patterns by Lotta Kühlhorn, a great and inspiring book about how the author work and design various patterns.

Paper Dialogues exhibition in today art museum, Beijing has finally opened

13.10.2014

Beijing_580px

WORK | Three years has passed by since I visited Beijing for first time to have preliminary discussion with the Norwegian embassy and to meet Professor Xiaoguang Qiao regarding a paper-cut exhibition in China in 2014.

After a lot of preparation, including designing a 120 pages catalogue, invitation, folder, poster, boards and wall texts – and an intensive final week for both Scandinavian and Chinese team members – October 1 we could finally open the first Paper Dialogues exhibition. It has become a beautiful an evocative installation in Today Art Museum in Beijing with artists Xiaoguang Qiao and Karen Bit Vejle. The official opening was October 5, a lot of people attended, including the Norwegian Ambassador Svein Sæther. The exhibition will also be shown in Liu Haisu Museum in Shanghai, Vigeland-museet in Oslo and in Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum in Trondheim. Read more about Paper Dialogues here.

See more from the catalogue here and the visual identity here.

BERLIN DESIGN FESTIVAL 2014

30.05.2014

Berlin-designweek

INSPIRATION | Visiting Berlin and the International Design Festival was a great inspiration. I like to be inspired by many things; product design, typography in public spaces, colors, patterns, posters and cafes.

Berlin has everything.

 

TOKYO AND KYOTO, OCTOBER 2013.

27.10.2013

Japan_580px

PERSONAL PROJECT, WORK | The starting point for my trip to Japan related to the support from The Scandinavia – Japan Sasakawa Foundation, was to gain an insight into Japanese visual communication.

I visited both Tokyo and Kyoto and documented in the first place the Japanese visual language using the camera. I started wide with many different directions; architecture, pattern, manhole covers, signs, clothing, food, stores, packaging design and posters. The result has been nearly 1000 images. In addition, I visited various galleries, and had specifically benefit from an exhibition at the Ginza Graphic Gallery, where the award-winning graphic designer Rikako Nagashima showed various works. In addition, I worked on making contacts. I had a meeting with the Art Director Kaoru Matsuno at Hara Design Institute/Nippon Design Center. She works closely with Kenya Hara who is also the Art Director for Muji. In addition, I worked two days with Mr. Yamamzaki Yo, where I was trained in ancient Japanese bookbinding techniques. Mr. Yamazaki Yo is a renowned bookbinder in Tokyo.

Given the goal of the trip, it’s been an interesting journey. With the imagery I now hold, it will be interesting to go more in depth of Japanese design in order to relate it to Western design. The contact with Mr. Yamazaki Yo gave me not only a concrete introduction into Japanese bookbinding techniques, but there was also a fundamental insight into the Japanese way of life, aesthetics and accuracy. Kaoru Matsuno gave an insight into how Hara Design Institute works in various design processes.

The journey and the process has given me inspiration to convey impressions through both lectures and a book. The lectures are intended as a process description based on the experiences I have gained. The idea about the book is to create inspiration for both Japanese and Western designers.

An alternative, or as an addition, it is also possible to think of an exhibition. I have been in contact with Hagiso, a small, newly renovated Japanese house in Yanaka, north of Tokyo, that is a venue for art and other events. They are open to offer an exhibition space for the project. The idea of the exhibition is to introduce Japanese and Western design in a possible artistic context with the book and the bookbinding techniques as a starting point.