uglylogo's blog

FOUND #11

2012-01-26T04:29:00.000-08:00

I do a few illustrations for TONO here in Norway, and I just found a sketch they did not use, for a concert article I think it was. Anyway I really like the sketch, it reminds me of The Beatles' crazy fans, screaming and crying, and still try to restrain themself to sit nicely on the chair. HEHE! I'll might finish this just for fun one day :-)

Don't Panic pack design!

2012-01-10T02:17:00.000-08:00

Yey! I got an email from Don't Panic, asking me to design the cover for their next pack!

As it says on their website: "The Don't Panic Pack has been an icon of counterculture since its inception at the turn of the millennium. Stocked in select bars, art spaces, record stores, fashion outlets and universities, and distributed by hand outside cutting-edge gigs, club events and festivals, the pack is one of the UK's most popular and widespread free lifestyle print publications.

Packs contain choice event flyers, product samples, assorted treats and our best known innovation: the Don't Panic Poster. From Banksy to Shepard Fairey, the poster has been designed by some of the world's best known artistic talents, as well as up-and-coming creative prodigies from across the globe.

The pack will be distributed nationwide in an edition of 80.000! So you might say I'm pretty stoked about this commission! Get yours!

By:Larm 2012 pt.2

2012-01-05T05:22:00.000-08:00

Me and Rune is in full speed working on the festival due in February! Right noe I'm sitting with the cover for the festival newspaper, and thought I would give you a preview before it's release. It features a norwegian band and some of my characters hanging around. I hope this will make people happy and get them ready to kickstart the festival-season in Norway! More to come !

Luxus Leverpostei poster

2011-11-30T05:30:00.000-08:00

This gig poster for norwegian rock band Luxus Leverpostei is a true gem! It's screen printed by hand in three colors – fluorescent orange, fluorescent green, and black. The 35x70cm poster is in a limited edition of 100 and will be sold at the concert december 17th, but if you can't make the concert or if you really just want a print you could contact me directly at frode@uglylogo.no. 30 posters go directly to the band for promotional purpose, that mean I have only 70 prints for sale. Each poster will be signed and numbered. See you at the rock show!

FOUND #10

2011-11-30T05:04:00.000-08:00

This invitation was made by myself and my good friend Mats Omland for our exhibition "Don't Hate" by The Fittest, the peace-hand was drawn and copied on transparent paper, and the text was hand set and printed on an old letterpress by me and Mats :-)

New gig poster coming soon!

2011-11-20T12:53:00.000-08:00

I contacted the norwegian rock band Luxus Leverpostei saying it's about time they got themself an awesome gig poster. Two days later we sat down together and I drew the poster in a day. Now I'm leaving for Oslo (tomorrow, monday) to screen print the poster myself with my old teacher and friend, and screen print guru, Jan Skomakerstuen. This will be so sick, the poster will have a limites edition of 100! Purchase info coming soon, but the posters will be sold live at Luxus' Christmas concert in Harvest Bar, Kvinesdal the 17th desember. So if you can't make it there be sure to follow this blog for purchase. Stoked!

Bakery redesign

2011-11-03T07:07:00.000-07:00

I'm doing a redesign of my local bakery's identity, R. Nilsens bakeri. and it's about time they did something refreshing! And they gave me full creative freedom, so I guess it's time to have fun and get as many uglylogo-characters in there as I can. To start with there will be 4 new breads to design bags for, and also the bakery's logo will be new! (In fact they did not really have a logo, just random typography set up by the printers). Looking forward continuing this project!

Alf Prøysen / TinTin illustration for ENO

2011-10-14T01:02:00.000-07:00

The editor at ENO asked me to do a Prøysen/TinTin morph illustration for an article on the norwegian singer/songwriter. The editor said, after recieving my illustration, that he almost got a tear in his eye by the result. For him it was a nostalgic image, reminding him of his childhood. A better compliment of an illustration is hard to find. Thanks Eirik for the commission!
You can also read about the latest ENO issue here, with Eirik's comment on my illustration :-) (Sorry folks, only in norwegian)

RUN – Limited Risograph print

2011-09-23T01:05:00.000-07:00

RUN is a Mickey Mouse/Salvador Dali inspired illustration, created by uglylogo's hand. Usain Bolt ain't got shit on RUN! It's is printed by London-based Manymono Risograph Service, and will be up for purchase at a new online shop coming soon. If you can't wait for it, send me an e-mail and I'll send you one.

The price is 400 NOK (cirka $70 / £45)
and is limited to only 40 prints.

Mural painting

2011-08-30T03:31:00.000-07:00

Fifteen years ago i got caught in the act of tagging my school, and paid the price for it. I recently got hired by the same people for a mural painting job, ain't that the definition of irony? I love it. And so do the kids and teachers at the school. I'm doing an illustration of four kids and one apple running, the apple representing the creative mind kids have and also the typical apple-for-the-teacher image. The painting is half-done, I'm just waiting for a couple of sunny days to finish it off.

by:Larm 2012 sneak peek

2011-08-18T03:25:00.000-07:00

We've (me and Rune) already started designing next year's festival identity. This year will also be mainly illustrations, only a lot more simpler illustrations and also a bit more vulgar! Last year was only black and white, so this year we will have a more colorful identity. Looking forward to be working on this, I'll keep you posted. Above is a sketch of 2012's logo, or maskot if you will.

My first RISO-print!

2011-08-07T05:11:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to print my first risograph print. I'm really stoked! The nice folks at Manymono printed it, and it looks awesome! The colours are vibrant and as fresh as a sunrise! The print will be availiable for purchase in good times, until then you can take a look at this preview and the sketch below this post. And if you combine the two, you might imagine what the final print looks like :-)

COMING SOON!

2011-07-15T01:36:00.000-07:00

My wife is expecting to give birth to our second child any day now, and while the new house is being constructed I'm working my ass of with a second job (driving freshly baked bread!) to get ready for the first bill from the house loan. Still I get some time to do some projects... I'm really stoked about this illustration (sketch preview). The colors will be awesome and hopefully you will like it when it's finished. Until then, mates.

FETT Magazine illustration

2011-06-15T04:00:00.000-07:00

I'm really stoked about this one. Mainly because the editor's at Fett gave me full creative freedom. The brief was to make an illustration presenting the humour section of the issue, and the theme was humour/sex. What better way to show this than a penis having fun and playing? Thanks to the girls at Fett for having the balls to print this!

Janelle Monaé illustration

2011-06-06T01:04:00.000-07:00

This illustration was for Norway's newest music magazine ENO, featuring the talented Janelle Monaé. The brief was to do an illustration showing Janelle's colorful appearance. This was a really fun job to do, and I made many various color selections, but the editors wanted to go with the one where she at least had her skin color correct :-) I was also very happy to hear they wanted to use it for the cover.

SILVER AWARD FOR «ILLEGAL BURGER»!

2011-05-15T02:47:00.000-07:00

Yey! The design for Illegal Burger won silver in the identity design category at Visuelt 2011. I did all the illustrations for the identity, while duo Are Kleivan og Christian Schnitler at The Metric System did the design and concept. Congrats to Illegal Burger, myself, Are and Christian, and all the other winners!

VISUELT 2011

2011-05-04T05:55:00.000-07:00

I'm off to Oslo for Visuelt 2011 seminars and awardshow fun! Fingers crossed for a prize for my by:Larm illustrastions. «Visuelt is an annual event for the creative industry in Norway and consists of competition, seminars, prize award, party and exhibition.» –visuelt.org.

I'm looking forward to the lecture by Laurent Fetis, concidered one of the best French designers of the 2000's. He is known for doing album covers for bands like M83, Mellow, DJ Hell, Tahiti 80, Discodeine as well as Beck – not to mention the great stuff he does for Paris Social Club.

CHICK COREA JAZZ POSTER pt.2

2011-05-03T06:02:00.000-07:00

Some months ago I posted a poster we did not use, of Chick Corea's concert. So I guess it's only fair to post the one we did use. Even though I personally preferred the other one, this poster is more modern and convey the message and music genre in an obvious way.

I'M NOT DEAD!

2011-04-15T16:14:00.000-07:00

But I've just been extremely busy. Thankfully. I decided to at least post something for you before easter vacation, and I'll try to get back on track with my posts again, after easter. Here you see a fresh project, it's not even off the printer yet! I'll get back to you on the project later (or you could click on it and read for yourself)... Happy Easter all!

BY:LARM 2011 ANIMATION VIDEO

2011-02-05T16:02:00.000-08:00

By:Larm - Statoil stipend vignett from Øystein Relbo-Knutsen on Vimeo.

After spending 3-4 months drawing for the by:Larm festival, I was happy to see the work finished. And when I thought it was all done, I got this video from Øystein Relbo-Knutsen, that he made for the Statoil-stipend (scholarship) prize ceremony (The band 'Kvelertak' won the cool million). The video features all my illustrations animated, and I think it looks absolutely amazing! Check out more from the talented Øystein here.

50 YEARS OF FILMMAKING - BOOK

2011-01-26T02:22:00.000-08:00

Lars Emanuel Egeland is an old teacher of mine, who have had filmmaking as his hobby, as he explains it himself. I would say it's more his passion in life. You will hardly ever see Lars Emanuel without his camera on in his hand, and you willl not get to have a conversation with him where the theme «filmmaking» is not mentioned.

In 50 years he's done many feature films, musicvideoes, events, and commercials - all on an amateur level. I'm designing the book documenting these 50 years behind the camera, and with that many years Lars got more than enough photos to put in the book. The book is due to be released at his 50 years of filmmaking party in march.

NEW YEAR!

2011-01-10T18:49:00.000-08:00

Happy new year all! I've been seriously busy with the illustration for by:Larm 2011 that's just around the corner. If you're in Norway, be on the look out for big-sized posters and grab one if you can. 2010 went by really fast, and I'm hoping 2011 will give me more fun projects to work on, and I will hopefully spend more time on each of them. I want to update my website with new work in the near future and (if all goes as planned) I'm up to something very exiting, a secret for now but I promised you will like it when it's launched! I'm stoked! Thanks all for visiting my sites and supporting me, x and o's to you. Above is again a preview of the by:Larm profile, it will be released in a couple of weeks... Hope to see you there!

ILLEGAL BURGER

2010-12-06T16:53:00.000-08:00

Some time ago I blogged about this project, and back then the profile for the burger shop had the name Illegal Grill. The name has changed to Illegal Burger and I recently put the whole project up on my website. The talented duo Are Kleivan and Christian Schnitler from The Metric System Design Studio made the identity for Oslos newest and finest burger joint.
I did the characters based on the ingredients. Please check my website for the complete profile!

NEW INTERVIEW!

2010-12-02T09:13:00.000-08:00

I've done a interview with drømmelandet.com. Unfortunately the inteview is in norwegian only. I tried Google Translate, it's works OK. This is a brand new blog about photography and visual culture, run by a group of young inspiring talents.
All the photos in the interview by Mikael Fløysand.

RIDICULOUS DILEMMA - FOR ENO MAGAZINE

2010-12-02T09:01:00.000-08:00

I did this illustrative heading for an article on humour in the musicworld, for ENO magazine. The text read "ridiculous dilemma", and I believe the illustration speaks for itself. I have done many more illustrations for this magazine, and they will be posted on my website in good times.

BY:LARM 2011 - CONTINUED

2010-11-11T02:46:00.000-08:00

The illustration world for by:Larm 2011 continues to expand, and the website is previewing this detailed view of the illustration. The finished illustration (that will work as the poster for the event) will probably be ready for the streets in a month or so. Stay tuned!

TOP KEYWORDS

2010-11-09T13:12:00.000-08:00

Here's a funny fact: 8 people found my website from searching the keyword "shit" during these past weeks. It might be wrong of me, but I find this very amusing. And, again, I'm reminded how bad my studio name is when 16 people search for "ugly logo" and my site pops up :-)

NEW LOOK!

2010-11-04T13:43:00.000-07:00

My blog just visited the blog-hairdresser and got new looks! I should update the blog design more often but I'm just not the programmer-type-of-guy. The posts will be the same (various posts featuring my design-life) and I will update my blog design as soon as some programmer geek owes me a favour.

NORSK KULTURRÅD ILLUSTRATION

2010-10-25T15:47:00.000-07:00

This year's theme for Norsk Kulturråd's annual conferance is "Art & Audience". I made this illustration of the audience seen from the artwork point of view. The illustration was used as the brochure cover and will be featured in a larger scale during the conference.

IdN's PICK OF THE MONTH

2010-10-20T15:35:00.000-07:00

IdN (International designers' Network) magazine featured some of my work in the Pick Of The Month section, in their 100th issue. IdN is one of the world's leading design publications and I feel honoured to be included in such a great magazine. Thank you IdN :-)

FEITE FORESTILLINGER

2010-10-11T23:57:00.000-07:00

We made this book for Norsk Rockforbund, based on a previous layout design by Rune Mortensen, This is only an updated edition, the book is released every third year or so. It's a book on music education, with everything from booking to promoting. This year we decided to make all the headers in handwriting, making it more "rock" and also breaking from the tight layout and typography. Here's a view of the cover:

CHICK COREA JAZZ POSTER

2010-10-03T14:53:00.000-07:00

Me and Rune Mortensen made a poster for Midtnorsk Jazzsenter, featuring a concert with Chick Corea, Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, and Erlend Skomsvoll (dir/arr). The poster you see below is not the one we used but I really wanted to show you a version I made for fun, inspired by vintage jazz posters from the U.S. To use typography as the main element is something I love in a poster. When you can get the feel of what kind of music the poster represent by using typography alone I believe you just might got something.

EDIT: I got a very nice mail from the folks over at Chick Corea Productions, telling me how much they liked this poster and that they posted it on Chick's blog! I appreciate it!

TONO ILLUSTRATIONS

2010-10-03T14:30:00.000-07:00

I've done a few illustrations for TONO (Norway's Performing Rights Society) and hopefully will make some more for them. The client needed illustrations with a certain style that would come to be synonymous with the company. I pitched illustrations with a 50's feel to it with a hint of the modern world. I'll blog the finished work when it's published by the client. Here's a sketch preview:

BY:LARM 2011 - CONTINUED

2010-10-03T14:08:00.000-07:00

My apologies for not posting anything in a while, I've been so busy with many projects. The website for By:Larm 2011 is launched and the illustration is expanding! For now, what you see, is just a small part of a larger illustration which will be more revealed as the days pass. Check out our animation regulary on the website as we continue to change it every now and then. More to come...

FOUND #9

2010-08-15T05:56:00.000-07:00

Wow, this is a good one! My brother found these images of me doing a mural painting in a party-bar in Oslo named BlocBar, i believe it was done in 2005. Thinking back I remember it was no pay at all (except a few beers), but I know that this job was a real winner for me; I just moved to Oslo and got to paint this big wall in a popular bar, so the exposure I got landed me a few other assignments. I remember working nights alone in that bar and people passing by would stop to look. That was fun! The mural still exist, but I think the bar is out of business.

BY:LARM 2011

2010-08-11T06:51:00.000-07:00

Since started working with Rune Mortensen, I've been lucky to get involved with many interesting projects. And this one's definitely no exception! By:Larm is Scandinavia’s largest music conference, it consists of two parts: a festival and a conference. Each year they redesign their visual identity, and this year I got on board with Rune to make a design featuring mainly my illustrations. The main elements of the identity is the poster and the logo, here's a preview on the logo. We've already started to send out ads for magazines and likes, so keep your eyes open.

FJELLPARKFESTIVALEN 2010

2010-07-11T22:59:00.000-07:00

Fjellparkfestivalen is Norway's oldest rockfestival and is held in the small town of Flekkefjord. The festival have a new slogan each year, this year was "old meat - new sauce". In collaboration with the talented graphic designer Rune Mortensen, we made the poster and other printer matter to go to the festival.

SCREENPRINTING TABLE

2010-06-23T15:27:00.001-07:00

I finally got my screenprinting table! And it's just not any other table, this is the same table I've used for all my prints made during my education. It's been used by many students and people that I know and admire. The history of all the prints made with this table is worth a lot to me. And I got a pretty good deal on it too! Now all I need is screens, inks, a squeegie and time. Definitely more time.

TYPOGRAPHY – DISPLAY FONT FOR MY EXAM

2010-06-23T14:54:00.000-07:00

I found my bachelor-exam on an memory stick the other day, and I must admit - I did not think it was all that good. But I really like this display font I made for the project. Sjøfartsmuseéne is the Norwegian Maratime Museums, and a new profile for them was our exam project. I used the font as an alternative logo as well as headlines for posters, ads etc. It was made by using milk to get that liquid ocean feel to it, suitable for the museeums' mutual link.

IT'S NICE THAT – "CATCH UP INTERVIEW"

2010-06-08T23:35:00.000-07:00

One year ago my work was presented in It's Nice That's Graduates 2009 feature, with an interview. Now, a year later, they did a look-back on last years graduates and a short catch up on how things are going. Read my catch up interview here. A big thanks to Will and Alex over at the brilliant creative blog It's Nice That.

SCREENPRINTING SESSION

2010-05-30T23:39:00.000-07:00

I spent my time in Oslo screenprinting with my friend Mats and the screenprinting guru Jan Skomakerstuen. We all printed each our designs, and below is a few images from the session. Worth to mention that this is at The Royal Academy of the Arts, and the fact that we are professionals. Here's a normal day at the screenprinting shop:

NEW SCREENPRINT - "I USED TO BE YOU"

2010-05-25T23:58:00.000-07:00

During Visuelt 2010 in Oslo I got time to make this new screenprint.
It's a two-color print featuring a poop character, holding a soft-ice, remenessing in awe what he used to be. Yes I know, it's charmingly repulsing. The print is available to buy, just send me an e-mail.
Limited to only 40.

ILLEGAL GRILL

2010-05-12T00:44:00.000-07:00

The very talented graphic designers Are Kleivan and Christian Schnitler from The Metric System contacted me to make illustrations for Illegal Grill, a new burger shop in Oslo. I personalized all the ingrediens, and part of the brief was that all the characters would be criminals. Below is a preview of the design, I will post the finished design after it's all set and done. Here you see the main character, the hamburger, doin' a "I'm not a crook" pose.

VISUELT 2010, HERE I COME!

2010-05-04T14:12:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I'm leaving for Visuelt 2010, Norway's biggest annual event for the creative industry, and consists of a competition, seminars, prize award show, party and exhibition. I have not any entries this year, and it's a relief to finally enjoy all of the award show and not nervously waiting for my category. But I will still participate next year, I hope. I'm looking forward to hear Paula Sher from Pentagram speak this year, and also illustrator Siggi Eggertson from Iceland will most likely give me some inspiration. Well, I'm off to Oslo! Updates in a week or so :-)

READ THIS BOOK

2010-04-17T04:27:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading Studio Culture; The secret life of the graphic design studio, and it is really good. Not only visually but the content is both inspiring and educational. Featuring interview from some of the leading design studios in the world, including our own Non-Format. Recommended especially for those of you who study or planning on starting your own creative studio. Also read the fantastic book How to be a graphic designer, without losing your soul.
Both books by Adrian Shaughnessy.

StL BROCHURE

2010-04-10T02:18:00.000-07:00

I will get better photos of this in time, but here's a preview for the brochure I recently made for Studentenes Landsforbund's (StL) annual conference. I got the trust I wanted and had full art direction on the job, and with low budget I made the brochure with only 2 colors. Black and fluorescent pink. The client asked for a colorful result, and by using this strong pink color in contrast to the black, the result is eye-catching and colorful. The toolbox on the cover represent the agenda of the conference; Tools to make a better student community.

NEW STUDIO #3

2010-04-10T02:05:00.000-07:00

Yeah I know, it's going slow with my new studio. I've been busy with a few jobs and with my babygirl starting to get a personality it's not much time left for fixing the studio. Luckely I can work from home for now, but can't wait till the studio is done. Yesterday I finished prime painting the walls, so now it's 2 layers with paint left before the floor can be made and the electrician can hook me up with lights and internet etc.
Here's a few photos of the paintjob and the parquet I chose for "the 2nd floor".

FOUND #8

2010-04-06T03:10:00.000-07:00

We had this assignment in school (KHiO) where we would make a book on making it in Norway – for foreigners. My book was nothing more or less then a small book, but I kind of like the cover, where the cheese-slicer makes a 500 kroner bill. Tells you pretty much all that need to be said about the content; work and get money in Norway, with the title "Not from Norway?"

KILL THE CAT!

2010-03-27T05:41:00.000-07:00

Here's an eye-candy for you. Inspired by the vintage Disney's toons I made this illustration. It's A2 size, so it's larger then I usually make. Hopefully I will make it in more editions. Happy Easter all! Click on image to catch the details!

FOUND #7

2010-03-21T02:03:00.000-07:00

Just found this birthday invitation I made for my own birthday 2 years ago. The theme for the party was vintage fashion and music, So we all showed up with clothes from the 50-60's and danced to the likes of Fats Domino, Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee Lewis.

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

2010-02-23T05:10:00.000-08:00

I did a few illustrations for The Church of London for their latest issue of Little White Lies, after they were happy with this illustration I did some months earlier. The theme of this issue was "Where the wild things are", and I did all the headers and illustrations for their back section. Here's a preview, I will add this project to my official website soon.

FREE ZOMBIE DOWNLOAD

2010-02-09T06:17:00.000-08:00

Download the Zombie print for yourself! Sure, it's not the real deal, but if you can't afford to buy the screen-printed version, here's a freebie for you. Go here to my official website, and download the PDF-file.
Hope you like it :-) If you want to buy the screen-printed one (limited to 80 prints), send me an e-mail.

TOYS

2010-02-05T04:55:00.000-08:00

This illustration I did in 2004 I think, while studying illustration at MI. This is the first piece of work I won an award for, bronce medal in Gullkalven. A national student competition curated by Westerdals. I did not care too much for the award, but it's always nice to get some feedback. The illustration is my answer to a school assignment. The task was simple, make an illustration for "adult playground".
The girl is Marilyn Monroe.

GREEN SLIME

2010-02-05T04:42:00.000-08:00

I screen-printed this poster a while back, when I was still in school. It's printed on black paper, so the colors did not get the brightness they should. I have a stock of these at home, but I don't think I will put them up for sale. Maybe if I do a re-print on white paper, but that will never happen. So now I stick to white or light color paper for screen-printing. Below is the digital version of he print, how it should look.

GOOD LIFE SILKSCREEN POSTER

2010-01-24T05:21:00.000-08:00

I've almost forgot this one, It is one of my first posters I did using silkscreen printing. The text, taken from Kanye West's hit song, is printed with two colours. Gold and black. I see a lot I would do different today, but I hope I'll always feel like that. That I need to do better next time around. The poster is a personal project and is 50 x 70 cm.
Did I mention it's for sale? :-)

ANOUK LOGO

2010-01-24T03:39:00.000-08:00

Anouk is a clothing label made by two cute girls from Norway, and during my study we were given the task to make all the profile for the label. I made this logotype with watercolours, and think it looks fresh and fashion (if it's allowed to say that?). Anouk decided to go another direction, and I think that decision was more suited for them. Here's my go anyway:

FOUND #6

2010-01-24T03:11:00.000-08:00

Here's another one of my deserted island comic square I did a while back. I like when you can read a comic strip (or square), you can make up tour own story beyond what you see. I think it's very good to try and make the observer use his/her imagination. The text read: "That was the last time the invincible man would try to pee towards the wind."

WINTER

2010-01-13T14:31:00.000-08:00

The art directors for the latest issue of Utflukt magazine asked me to do an illustration, with the theme "winter greeting card". Winter reminds me of my childhood, I used to play alot outside during winter and would sometimes imagine Bigfoot and other creatures lurching in the white forest. It was something majestic about the landscape.
Anyway, here's my illustration:
Click on image above for larger view.

FOUND #5

2010-01-07T09:19:00.001-08:00

Found this illustration I did called "Dream", I think it was just for fun, but ended up using it for a schoolbook presenting myself and my work. Click on image for larger view.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2010-01-06T01:29:00.000-08:00

A few days late, but I wish you all a happy new year! The year 2009 was certainly a stressfull one, I finished my Bachelor's degree exam and moved back to my hometown to set up my very own studio. We had a baby, I purchased a car, sold it after 2 weeks for a better car, and I've been creatively busy with clients and personal projects. This year I will narrow it down to fewer, but bigger projects, and will try to charge a more reasonable fee for my services. "Free" is just not as gainful as I hoped. I will move in to my new studio in a month or two. Currently I'm working on what I think will be a big part of my life, for now I can't say what, but I really hope you will like it.
Anyway, happy new year! Hope you check my blog as well as my website through 2010, and I will try to update you and give you some post every now and then.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2009-12-21T03:27:00.000-08:00

I'm leaving for Trysil this christmas, and will be back home in 2010. Hopefully there's been some development in the studio till then. I wish you all a merry christmas and a prosperous and inspiring new year!

FOUND #4

2009-12-13T04:12:00.000-08:00

One of the first logos I did was this one for RA Trading, who deals with tires and rims.
This was a typical low-paid-friend-favour kind of job. I think the result is terrible, but still it was exactly what the client wanted. They made this big sign I see almost everyday, it's an awful sight for me, but for a non-design mortal it's good. I might approach them to ask if they want to update it. God knows I should.

NEW SCREEN PRINT BY THE FITTEST

2009-12-06T09:34:00.000-08:00

Mats and I (The Fittest) finally got around to do some Fittest stuff again. Henning is a follow-up screen print to the popular Big Venn print. It's a 3-color screen print including fluorescent blue, wich gives it that little extra pop! Both Big Venn and Henning is for sale for only NOK 299,- Send me an e-mail for purchase. See more photos here

DISCARDED MINIATYR LOGOTYPES

2009-11-28T07:42:00.000-08:00

I did a logotype a while back for Maria Skappel & Andreas Holzweiler. I recently found these logos I used for the first pitch. The brand Miniatyr is for miniature sunglasses used as fashion accessories. The tin soldier is one, if not the first, miniature toy to be collected. They were the first toy soldiers to be mass produced.
I figured the soldier fit as a symbol the brand's name represent. The client chose to use the airplane, but due to some production difficulties we ended up doing it like this. The final logo was created in a few hours, and the discarded ones I made during a week. Funny? Yes, I think so. I like that the plane's wheel is the dot over the i.

SHUTTER ISLAND FAN ART

2009-11-26T14:09:00.000-08:00

Shutter Island is an upcoming horror thriller directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio. I'm really stoked about this movie, and I made this poster to screenprint, but did not get around to it. Yet. The character of Leo, a U.S. marshal named Teddy Daniels, wears these colorful hawaiian ties, so the idea for the print was to hand-color the tie after screenprinting. It would be around 100 one-of-a-kind print. It might still happen when the studio is finished. I hope :-)

Click on image for a larger view.

"FRANK NOIR" COMIC STRIP

2009-11-18T15:52:00.000-08:00

OK, so I told you a few months ago that I was involved in a project, but couldn't tell you exactly what. Well, it was Dagbladet's annual comic strip competition. I was contacted by a stranger who asked me to collaborate in the competition, and for a challenge I accepted. I did all the illustrations and he (Pål Hørland Dobloug) wrote the stories. We were pleased to advance to the semifinals, check out my drawings and the strip here.
Click image for larger view.

UGLYLOGO INTERVIEW

2009-11-16T02:27:00.000-08:00

Two guys (Bendik Høibraaten and Mikael Fløysand photos) from Westerdals School of Communication asked to interview me, and screen-printing in general, for a school project. I welcomed them to join a printing session in Oslo. Below is a few photos from the session, check back later for a link to the interview.

POC MAGAZINE ILLUSTRATION

2009-11-11T11:54:00.001-08:00

The Church of London Design made a magazine called POC who make protection wear for snowboarding, cycling and skiing. They asked me to do an illustration on "creating economically active and sustainable communities within forests but without exploiting the forest." I made it with color, but they preferred to use it in only black. I think it was ok both ways, so I let them. The illustration works from various angles.

TYPOGRAPHY ENVELOPES

2009-11-11T11:40:00.000-08:00

I love typography, and when we sent out thank-you's to people gratulating us for Enea (our babygirl), I took my time and made all the envelopes' typo. Some people said they apppreciated the envelope more than the content. Funny.

NEW PRINT BY THE FITTEST!

2009-11-11T10:46:00.000-08:00

The Fittest is myself and Mats Omland, my partner in creativity! We just finished a 3-color screenprint, and we're really stoked about it! It will be presented for the public in a couple of weeks. And it will go up for sale, check back for this years best christmas gift!

(above) Mats screenprinting Big Venn back in '08

NEW STUDIO #2

2009-10-29T09:28:00.000-07:00

We're finally started for real fixing the old barn to a brand new studio. We're currently isolating all the walls (see picture), and tomorrow the door and windows will be delivered. Also I have a few commissiones I'm working on, so it's a tight schedule :-)
The studio is well planned and will be built to fit my way of working, with large tables and good lighting, as well as a relaxation/client zone. Can't wait! Did I mention there's a swimming pool? Not.

ENEA

2009-10-29T09:23:00.000-07:00

2 months have passed since my babygirl was born, of course she instantly became a big part of my life. So I made a drawing of her to send to friends and family.

T-A-P-E OPENED!

2009-10-10T04:05:00.000-07:00

Now the exhibition has opened! As I told you earlier I did this piece on wood. T-A-P-E's main exhibition space is located in Arnhem, The Netherlands, and run from Sunday 27 September till Sunday 25 October. This well publicized event attracts approximately 50.000 visitors to places scattered across the city of Arnhem and receives a lot of (inter)national press coverage.
I chose to make my piece in my native language, since so many countries were represented. My father runs a gas station and during the summer he sell Soft-ice-cream. When I got the invite I was actually working on a real sign for him to use, so I made a more personal version of it to send to Arnhem. Below is a few detailed images of my contribution. you can see the whole image on my website.

MIXTAPE CASSETTES ILLUSTRATIONS

2009-10-04T15:37:00.000-07:00

Norwegian free student magazine, Plan B, asked me to do some mixtape illustrations for them a couple years back. I did six different illustrations of mixtape cassettes, but that issue was never released :-( Well, at least I got paid! Here is the best three, I think:

FOUND #3

2009-10-04T15:08:00.000-07:00

OK, maybe not the best time to post another comic strip square, but I just found these on my computer. I have about 20 different squares, all taking place on a desert island. I remember I was going to send them all to a comic-book publisher, but I must have forgot... Anyway, here's the first one I did.

The text reads; "This morning Roald thought something was different."

WHAT'S THIS THEN?

2009-09-28T18:46:00.000-07:00

Okey, the deal is I can't tell you what this is yet, but it's what I'm workin' on for the moment. I'm really stoked about this project, so if it turns out good, I will post more of it. Anyone know these lines??

FOUND #2

2009-09-22T16:27:00.000-07:00

This one I did my first year studying illustration back in 2002.
Personally I don't like it that much, visually. But the idea was good, i think.It was for an article about denying people a public poster display wall, leaving a grey, sad wall. Anyway, in a lot of ways this illustration might be one of the first where I started to get a recognizable style, so it's important to me.

MORE FROM T-A-P-E

2009-09-22T15:55:00.000-07:00

I spend some time packing my work for the exhibition before shipping it. Little did I know they filmed it when they opened it, hehe.
Check out the video here.

Also, the posters have been printed, and my package can be seen down left in the background (click picture for larger view). I wish I could go to the exhibition, seem to be a really inspiring event.

FOUND #1

2009-09-15T04:50:00.000-07:00

I was going through som old boxes of drawings, and found this illustration I did for a contest. The theme was "blunder" I think... (I did not win) So from now on I will post old work and sketches every now and then, if I find something interesting.

(above) The text says "library", and I guess you figured out he is farting... I really like the texture of the floor.

MAG ILLUSTRATION PROCESS

2009-08-31T06:52:00.000-07:00

The Church of London Design is working on a magazine for a Swedish company called POC who make protection wear for snowboarding, cycling and skiing. They asked me to do an illustration on "creating economically active and sustainable communities within forests but without exploiting the forest." It's been back and forth with sketches a couple of times, here's a peek of the process:

First sketch (above).

The second idea was this infinity-elephant (above). I like the sketch a lot, but it was not what the company had in mind.

I think we all were happy with the final illustration (detail above), though they might go for black only. You can see the whole illustration on my website when it's been printed and issued.

T-A-P-E SUBMISSION SENT!

2009-08-26T14:31:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned earlier, I was invited to an art festival called Made in Arnhem in the Netherlands. My submission is finished and sent to the exhibition, unfortunately I totally forgot to take a photo of the finished piece! Bummer. But I will ask my contact for the exhibition to take one for me :-) I will post more from the exhibition when it's due.

ENEA – AN UGLYLOGO OFFSPRING!

2009-08-17T01:11:00.000-07:00

On Friday 14th of August I was a father for the first time! Her name is Enea and she immediately became my biggest inspiration!

MY T-A-P-E SUBMISSION

2009-08-09T09:19:00.000-07:00

Here's a preview of my submission for the art festival Made in Arnhem in the Netherlands. It's oil on wood. I will work with the surface at the end, to make it look more worn and old. It's suppose to resemble a vintage sign, so I'm gonna give the soft-ice a smiley-face, and all the typography will be handmade. The finished piece will be exhibited somewhere at the festival and later it will be auctioned for charity.

OUR BABY ROOM

2009-08-09T09:06:00.000-07:00

My wife Lena and I are expecting our first child in a week or two, and we're finished with the baby's room. Since it's a girl it's mandatory the room turned out mainly in pink and purple. Fortunately, the print "Big Venn" by Mats Omland and myself suits the room perfect! So now it's not so bad it turned out pink after all :-)

FAN FANZINE ILLUSTRATION

2009-08-03T18:57:00.000-07:00

I recently did a job for music fanzine FAN #3, a cover illustration. The illustration was also screenprinted to an edition of 60 posters. I made a trip to Oslo to sign the posters, and to join the release-party. Too bad I had to leave so early! Props to the Kjefta!-crew for a nice zine!

T-A-P-E INVITATION!

2009-08-03T16:45:00.000-07:00

Temporary Art Product Exchange, or T-A-P-E, invited me to send my work to be exhibited at a grand festival of visual arts in the Netherlands, called Made in Arnhem.

"A very special exhibition will be presented by T-A-P-E: we have invited artists from all over the world to send their works of art. By putting all submissions together TAPE will attempt to create the largest international temporary art exhibition currently on show, during the festival. This well publicized event attracts approximately 50.000 visitors to places scattered across the city of Arnhem and receives a lot of (inter)national press coverage. Detailed information about the artist and the art will be published on this website and in the accompanying catalogue."

I also recieved this cool digital invitation as well. Dope!
Also, check out their website here: t-a-p-e.org

NEW STUDIO #1

2009-08-03T16:17:00.000-07:00

Currently I'm working downstairs in the barn. As you can see from the photo under, it's a bit messy, but fine for now. My new studio will be pretty big, I can't wait to move in! We have now hired a carpenter, and I guess we'll soon start with raising the roof, and placing the windows. Check out my fantastic architectual drawing debut!