Yokoland
They say it's best when things just happen. It's often the case that well thought out ideas, careful planning and conservative thinking will get you no-where like the odd rash decision or accidental one will. The very fact that Norwegian outfit Yokoland describe their origin as occurring "sometime between 2000 and 2005" indicates just how laid back and organic the process was for them. Started by Espen Friberg and Aslak Gurholt Rønsen sometime between leaving High School and their graduation from The National Academy of the Arts, Yokoland simply became a space to experiment with all the new things they were learning, and allowed them to jump into creative projects as they saw fit. The pair are adamant that it was never supposed to become the highly successful and fully functional graphic design and illustration studio that it is today, yet that is what it is. Whereas most studios take years to make a name for themselves and compile enough work to perhaps publish a book, Yokoland were still pinning their graduating papers to the walls of their office when renowned publishers Die Gestalten Verlag came a looking. Now four years on from that first book, 'Hidden track' they have five books under their belt not to mention worldwide exhibitions, a celebrated achievement for any design house never mind one in its infancy. Their hands on approach and juvenile use of props have given the design world a refreshing new look as well as winning them countless awards and clients. We caught up with Aslak Gurholt Rønsen, one half of the founding members of Yokoland to talk team changes, cottages and the cost of living...
So Aslak, it's been exactly a year since you were exhibiting your work here in the UK, for your 'Under the bushes, under the stars' exhibition how did that go? And what have you been up to since then? The exhibition became a strange mix between our different projects. Our projects are sometimes a pure design- project, other times a pure art-project, but most of the time it's a mix of the two. This can often be a challenge when it comes to exhibiting, since the work can so often be misread. A year after we did the exhibition I'm still not quite sure if I liked it or not. Since the exhibition in Sunderland quite a lot of things have changed around here. One of our group members, Espen Friberg, has left us, while another one Martin Lundell has joined. We have also had an exhibition of drawings and collages here in Oslo, and published a small book of all the work. When it comes to our work that might have changed a little as well – with more varied projects.
You guys are based in Oslo, which has an incredibly high cost of living. How do you afford to work out of an Oslo based studio? Yes, it's quite a challenge working from Oslo, especially when it comes to doing jobs abroad. In the last two years about fifty percent of our work has been for abroad clients. It's quite exciting working with people from the other side of the planet, but rarely profitable. The Norwegian Kroner isn't great, so working from here is quite a challenge.
You work with so many mediums in producing lots of types of design; do you have a favourite you get into with more passion then the others? You seem to have a love of props! Yes, at a point set design seemed really interesting. The thing is though that in the last couple of years everybody have started to do it – and with varied luck. There are too many sad examples where it's been done on the wrong premises – That it has not worked in the context it should. It's not like there's one thing I do with more passion than other things. What I find interesting is the process of working, connections you discover, coincidences that happen along the way, the challenge of change and the rush you feel when getting a final piece back from the printer.
You've created some t-shirts along the way, would you like to do some real fashion design? We have never worked with an established brand to create a line of clothing. It would be a great challenge though, but no one has ever asked us. At the moment I'm wearing a pair of black H&M jeans I got from my girlfriend for my birthday, a red t-shirt for By;Alarm (since it's the first day of this years By;Alarm-event), a white long sleeved shirt from a Norwegian brand called Dovre (mostly worn by old people), and an old grey well-used hoody inherited from my dad. I'm not sure it's what most people would call good style? What inspires your work? I'm not sure really. Of course our projects are connected with the place and culture where we're living. So maybe that's why there are so many mountains, trees and animals in our work.
You have said before you're problem makers not problem solvers - Do you think you have had to change that philosophy to gain work? Not really, but I never meant it as literally as it might sound. For instance the images we did for the New York Times perfectly show an example of problem solving. But the fact is that I don't feel like a problem solver. It actually sounds like someone you call when you have a problem with your computer or need to have the pipes in your apartment fixed. I so often hear designers talking about "problem solving" that it has become a cliché. To me this is just one aspect of a designers' job, and to call yourself a "problem solver" sounds more restricting than necessary. Another important side of design is to challenge and your clients, work together with them, get into the content of what they're doing, way we often feel like problem makers.
What is next for Yokoland, is there another book on the horizon or another exhibition? We'll definitely make a new book soon. We just finished a small book that we published ourselves, but we're hoping to make a new bigger one that could be published by Die Gestalten Velag. I don't have any clear idea for it yet, so I guess it will just have to be more of the same old same old.
