Hjalti Karlsson is a graphic designer who has enjoyed great success in Manhattan, where he runs the design company Karlssonwilker with his friend. In the latest episode of Augnablik í iðnaði, Hjalti spoke with Grímur Kolbeinsson about his background, the business in New York, his project work for the world's largest media outlets, and his vision for the development of the printing and media industries.
Hjalti was just over twenty when he went to study at Parsons School of Design in Manhattan, New York. He was determined to become a designer but couldn't find his niche in Iceland's educational system. He certainly did at Parsons, and although he had never intended to move to New York, the adventures unfolded. "I seemed much younger than I was when I moved abroad. I was still living with my mum and dad, and I was very shy. You see kids today, maybe I was just a late bloomer? But there was a group of Icelanders at the school who lived in the same neighbourhood, and that helped, of course. Slowly but surely, you get to know new people," says Hjalti about his first steps on foreign soil.
Penthouse in the next cubicle
After his studies, Hjalti received a one-year work permit, which he made good use of and got an extension. In those years, just before the turn of the last century, the industry was characterized by a lot of hard work for a newly graduated designer. "My first job was at a magazine; it was published for older people and was called Long Life. The publishing company also owned Penthouse magazine. I was there in some cubicle doing layouts with old people, and then the people in the next cubicle were working on something slightly different!" "It wasn't a good time to get a job. The industry always comes in waves. It was very common while you were still in school that you could work at a studio but maybe not get paid, maybe just a sandwich. Many were exploiting this, and maybe someone was working there 8-9 hours on weekends for no pay. This was all overhauled. Now everyone gets paid!"
Drawn to Iceland
Hjalti runs his company, Karlssonwilker, with his friend Jan Wilker, whom he met while working on a project during that busy time after graduation. They mainly worked for the music industry and also received projects from their former employer, Stefan Sagmeister, who took a year-long sabbatical and entrusted them with projects. Since then, they have worked for MTV, The New York Times, Time Magazine, Bloomberg, and MoMA. Hjalti is reluctant to rank his projects, saying they have all been rewarding and diverse. He also says he seeks out projects in Iceland because it gives him a good reason to come here more often. "I'm very connected to Iceland. I come on average five or six times a year and always have a client here, so I travel back and forth." Traces of Hjalti's design can be seen everywhere. For example, Hjalti and Jan redesigned the packaging for the Icelandic Brennivín and the entire marketing identity of the Reykjavík Art Museum, Hafnarhús, Ásmundarsafn, and Kjarvalsstaðir. Many are familiar with the Loksins bar at the airport, and they have also designed various things for GusGus. The latest project is a successful little bakery in the city centre, BakaBaka.
A strong trend and entrepreneurial thinking
Hjalti says the development in the print and media industries is rapid and that entrepreneurship is prominent. "When I was in school, it was all very separate. There was a separate photography department, and I found that strange, with no connection between departments. Today, what people are doing is so broad. I see a trend, and that is that studios have their own projects. They might be designing a product themselves and trying to sell it. Many design studios today show signs of entrepreneurship, and then about 20% of their income comes from their own work and not from clients. They are their own client. In some cases, this has been so successful that it has taken over the studio," says Hjalti, who clearly finds the development exciting.
Here is a link to the Karlssonwilker design studio's website.