Speakers

Two screenings reflecting the diversity and range of the Norwegian animation, motion graphics and moving image industry, curated by Grafill Animation & Moving Image.

Screening Part One

Kims - Why can't we be friends?, Gimpville / T/A POL
The Oslo Company, Stir
DOA, Animasjonsdepartementet
Conference on Anti-Corruption, Torgeir Hjetland & Kim Holm
Raw Air, NRK
NAF, D'TOX
Lano - Hakkebakkeskogen, Qvisten
SIKT - Alumni, Klipp og Lim
Mills - Lunchbox, Animaskin
NSB - Uke 31, APT
Reloop - How Deposits Work, Stir
KISS - A Love Story, Racecar

Screening Part Two

Beauty In Numbers: Pi / 3.14, Rebecka Taule
Define, Øyedrops
HSN - Clean Up, Racecar
Minimalen Short Film Festival, Helmet
BI - Recruitment, APT
Edgefolio, Wrk / Toxic / Sigurd Kristiansen
Oslo - A Nike Typeface, Babusjka / Oh Yeah Studio
RVTS Sør, Mikrofilm / Hanne Berkaak
Kaada / Patton - Red Rainbow, Rune Spaans

The flag of the Refugee Nation was designed by the artist Yara Said, a Syrian refugee who found asylum in Amsterdam. “Black and orange is a symbol of solidarity with all these brave souls that had to wear lifevests to cross the sea to look for safety in a new country. Since I had wear one, I have a personal engagement with these life-vests, and these two colors.”

Yara Said graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Damascus University in 2014. After war broke out in 2011 in her native Syria, Said was faced with the harsh reality of what she came to discover, the Human Condition: how once civilised human beings are able to revert into primitive creatures. This was a major catalyst in her artistic life, bringing light, shadow, air and weight, a depth of expression that resonates in every piece of
her work.

During the journey that led from her homeland to Amsterdam, her yearning for a greater knowledge of politics, psychology, sociology and theology in order to gain a deeper understanding of her role as an artist only increased. In Amsterdam she found a place to process her personal experiences in new artworks: ‘my soul is where my studio is, where I feel safe, where I can express myself’.

Said’s art is not confined to one discipline. She creates paintings and collages, as well as conceptual art. In 2016, Said designed the flag for the Olympic Refugee Team at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. This powerful design based on the colors of the life jackets worn by refugees when crossing the sea, is now part of several international museum collections including The Victoria & Albert Museum in London and the MoMa in New York. An affirmation of Said’s expressionist art which is personal yet universal.

Her art is a statement that forces the beholder to connect with time, place, art and society. Currently Said hosts workshops in The Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, participates in several exhibitions worldwide and is in the process of establishing a foundation to support artists in exile by facilitating their specific needs. A driven and unstoppable creative force, Yara Said has made a deep impact on the international art world and will continue to do so.

Vruchtvlees: Digital, Strategy & Design was founded by Michael Danker, Roman Stikkelorum and Rindor Golverdingen in 2007, after realising that graphic design could play a important role in the digital world. Rooted in the tradition of Dutch Design, Vruchtvlees finds the balance between high-quality design and smart digital code.

Vruchtvlees: Digital, Strategy & Design realizes the potential of ambitious brands like the Vegetarian Butcher, O My Bag and Theater Rotterdam. Enthusiastic and driven by design we research the question beyond the question. This results into Dutch Digital Design: international renowned (digital) solutions that people love and that grows brands.

Roman Stikkelorum is co-founder and strategic director at Vruchtvlees. For more than 10 years Roman has realised the goals and ambitions of a wide range of international clients. With a background in graphic design, Roman addresses complex issues using the design thinking method, which means starting from an overarching vision to create positive online and offline experiences. Working from the inside out, he builds strong brands, brand strategies and online strategies that result in value, growth and impact.

Vestre have been involved in creating social meeting places for millions of people for almost 70 years. They are a leading manufacturer of furniture for towns, parks and outdoor public spaces. 

Vestre is a family business, and in 2012 Jan Christian Vestre became managing director, only 26 years old. His strong belief in design as a tool for change has made Vestre into a successful firm with a solid economy. 

Jan Christians philosophy is that if design shall be a significant factor it has to be implemented through the whole production line. Even the Vestre factory, located in a small place in the middle of a forest, is designed by Snøhetta. His goal is not to compete on price, but to be best on quality, innovation, design and sustainability.

Today their products are well used at Times Square in New York, King’s Cross Central in London, Oslo Opera House, The Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Cormeilles en Parisis in Paris, Kunsthaus in Graz and Hamburg airport, just to mention a few.

Cécile Dormeau is a French illustrator based in the suburb of Paris. She worked in Germany in different graphic design agencies and as a junior art director at the advertising agency Ogilvy one for two years before starting her career as an illustrator. Using simple bold lines and bright colors, she creates illustrations and GIFs that explore body image and everyday issues faced by women. Parallel to her personal projects, she works for clients such as Google, GQ, the Sunday Times, NEON.

Natasha Jen is an award-winning designer, an educator, and a partner at Pentagram. Born in Taipei, Taiwan, she joined Pentagram’s New York office in 2012. A three-time National Design Award nominee, Natasha’s work is recognized for its innovative use of graphic, verbal, digital, and spatial interventions that challenge conventional notions of media and cultural contexts. Her work is immediately recognizable, encompassing brand identity systems, packaging, exhibition design, digital interfaces, signage and wayfinding systems, print and architecture.

Natasha is a faculty member at the School of Visual Arts and is a guest critic at Harvard Graduate School of Design, Yale University School of Art, Cooper Union, Rhode Island School of Design, and Maryland Institute College of Art.

Playful interventionist and design researcher, Tomo Kihara develops situated playful interventions to challenge and reframe societal issues. His recent project Street Debaters aims to change the act of begging into a job to create public discourse through playful artifacts. His projects to reframe societal issues through design activism has been acclaimed internationally, with project “phonvert” – a project to raise awareness of the potential that retired smartphones have – being nominated as Design of the Year 2016 by the London Design Museum.

As a founder, he is now currently in charge of developing this project at the Waag Society in Amsterdam. Some people also refer to him as the Chief Street Debater since he is head of the Street Debaters around the globe. On sunny weekends you can meet him street debating about almost anything − from politics to the best anime − in Amsterdam Dam square. Originally from Tokyo, he is now a graduate student based at TU Delft, Design for Interaction program in the Netherland.

We are showcasing national contemporary design and illustration. Meet five creatives and their passion projects; reMarkable, Torill Kove, William Stormdal, Eivind Stoud Platou, Ståle Gerhardsen.

reMarkable - Notepad for writing, reading and sketching
In 2013 the reMarkable team set out to create a device that would offer a pure, paper-like experience, but be connected and limitless. The first real digital paper tablet. Designed for reading, writing and sketching. And to be an elegant tool for thinking in the digital age, for those who love the inspiration and clarity they get when working on paper. (remarkable.com)

Torill Kove - Animated short film Threads
Torill Kove is an award-winning director, animator, and illustrator. She was born and raised in Norway and now lives in Canada. Her three previous short films have all been nominated for the Academy Award, and Kove won the award with The Danish Poet. She has also written and illustrated several children’s books. Torill Kove will outline the creative process of her animated short "Threads", a film about love and attachment. She will discuss the joys and challenges of telling a simple yet complicated story with images and movement, but no words. (www.mikrofilm.no/Threads)

William Stormdal - Pseudonym Publishing
Graphic designer from Oslo, Norway, specialised in identity, editorial and type design. Been working with a wide array of clients, both national and international, small & large. Initiator of Oslo-based Pseudonym Publishing. For his book-project ‘Pseudo’ he created a writing software, visualising the thought process behind writing. A timer is attached on the cursor, forcing white-spaces into the text block for every inactive second – creating a void in the text, true to a pause for contemplating or reflection. (www.stormdal.com)

Eivind Stoud Platou - The art of not throwing away food
"Kunsten å ikke kaste mat" is an award winning book about the art of not throwing away food. A third of all the food we produce are thrown. It is one of today's biggest and most unnecessary environmental problems. It is uneconomical and unethical. With this book each and one of us can learn and contribute to less food waste. The book presents the most common food articles we eat, what happens when they turn old, and how to use our own senses to determine whether the food is eatable or not. (www.handverkforlag.no)

Ståle Gerhardsen - Paternity Leave
Ståle Gerhardsen is an artist born (and kind of raised) in Trondheim, Norway. He paints, draws, prints, writes, build, make, design and spray for a living. He was invited to make a book of his drawings by a norwegian publicing agency. The same agency changed its mind a few months later. So Gerhardsen released his first book «Pappaperm» (Paternity Leave) on his own publishing agency "Takk Forlaget». Ståle will talk about the process from first sketch to making the second edition and going viral. (www.staalegerhardsen.com)

Moniker is an interactive design studio based in Amsterdam, founded in 2012 by Luna Maurer and Roel Wouters. The studio works across various media, exploring the social effects of technology and often interacting with the public.

With Moniker, which means nickname or pseudonym, they work on commissioned design projects while also investing in projects of an autonomous and experimental nature. The studio works across various media for a diverse range of clients ranging from those in the cultural field to commercial companies. With their projects, they explore the social effects of technology – how we use technology and how it influences our daily lives. Moniker specialises in interactive, print, video, physical installation and performance work.