AN EYE ON – Icelandic Design

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AN EYE ON

Graduation project (BA), University of Applied Science Offenburg

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AN EYE ON – is a contemporary design and visual culture magazine. Each issue captures and explores the design of a selected country which might seem inconspicuous at first glance . We report on both upcoming and established designers and take a look at the natural and cultural surroundings possibly affecting their work.

ISSUE #1 – Icelandic Design

Imagine you are a designer in a land where a design history barely exists and a specific term for design was established in the 1950s. A place where the big names are missing, benchmarks and standards must be developed; a country formed out of lava rocks, whose winters are long and cold and summers are short. With what or whom could you compete? Where would you get your inspiration from and what connects a creative scene? At first glance, Iceland seems isolated, apart, far up in the North. But a glance at its people and the design scene proves: This perception is based solely on geography.

In our first edition of the "An Eye On" magazine we take a closer look at Iceland – a country with just one tenth of the population of Berlin. In a time in which the world is flooded daily with new designs it's hard to make a name for yourself. Despite that, the work of Icelandic designers stands out from the mass and always gets international attention and recognition. But how can such a small country produce so many outstanding designers? What inspires them? Is there perhaps a characteristically unique Icelandic design style? How does the astonishing, powerful natural landscape influence the designer‘s work and their mentality?

Therefore, we were on site for one month to meet the creative artists of the country and interviewed them about their lives and their work. The result is an edition full of enlightening, exciting and amusing interviews, fascinating projects and photographs of the extraordinary, natural landscape that surrounds this design community, a design community on an island with a completely different outlook.

Get our first issue here!

Introducing:

Bobby Breiðholt, Spark Design Space, Elsa Jónsdóttir, Björn Loki, Jón Helgi Hólmgeirsson, Haraldur Unason Diego, Hörður Lárusson, Brandenburg, Reykjavík Letterpress, Ingi Kristján Sigurmarsson, Elisa Vendramin, Siggi Eggertsson, Leynivopnid, Marta Eir Sigurðardóttir, Elín Bríta, Studio Studio