We made a new catalog earlier this fall. Here are some of the pictures we shot for it. Hope you like them! And to see the full catalog, follow this link.
In this picture: Uniquefellow, Helmet, Headfirst and Ride
Flying V and Still Life
Some of our most important tools.
Ride Quote and Ride
The pile of irregular tote bags have grown big, so we were thinking of something to do with them. Maybe turn them into pillow cases? But then we thought of an old print idea that has been in the drawer (or sketch book) for many years.
We have collected small marks for “irregular quality” during the years. The first one’s were found on cheap t-shirts and underwear bought in New York in the 1990’s.
Now we have let them be the main motif on some bags!
The expression ”slightly imperfect” is kind of funny. It sounds humble but at the same time says ”almost perfect”. Like the swedish expression ”Obetydliga skönhetsfel kan förekomma” which means something like ”insignificant beauty imperfections might occur”. And who doesn’t feel like that at times?
We like bikes and typograpy – in this print we has combined them both, Go!
For us it has been a lot of numbers in recent years, so now it’s time for some characters.
The inspiration for this print comes from our new hometown Malmö (in the southern part of Sweden). A city where about 50% of the population has other native languages than Swedish. The ABÇ-plansch, an extended abc-poster, is our way of celebrating the great variety of expressions and a chance for us to enjoy exiting graphic shapes.
The selection is based on form and we have focused on the Latin alphabet and languages found in Europe. After some research we had an overwhelming amount of characters, to get the abc-feeling we kept 26 at a large size and placed the rest in three lines at the bottom of the print.
We think this print fits in a kids room (since today’s gifted kids already know how to read before they start kindergarten 😉 or to anyone who enjoy a graphic look.
Paper: Munken Pure 240g
Edition: Numbered 200
Print: Screen printed by hand
Typeface: Museo Sans
Design: L. E. Tanttu – jollygoodfellow, Sweden
Available at Supermarket and Nordic Design Collective.
Today it’s the first of December and the new year begins in a month. So it’s really time to say more about urbnCal 2012! We started with Stockholm 2010, then Copenhagen, and 2012 it is Helsinki!
How long does it take to make the calendar?
The first part is ”collecting” all the numbers. We spend about a week biking around the city, one area at the time, shooting pictures. We take turns, one of us is playing with the kids and the other is taking photos.
During the evening when the kids are asleep we go through the days harvest and name the pictures by street address and file them in folders, one for each month.
The next step is to adjust the photographes and place them in Indesign, our lay out-program. We check so the pictures work well together and crop them. This is usually when we have to kill our darlings or at least crop our darlings.
How did the idea come about?
We had the idea for a few years before we had the courage to try it in the summer/fall of 2009. We didn’t know if we could complete it or if it was too big a task and who would like to sell the calendar. One inspiration for the calendar was an earlier idea to make congratulation cards out of numbers plates. We have an interest for everyday details.
Why is it called urbnCal?
urbnCal stands for urban calendar. The idea from the beginning was to photograph many cities and compare the graphic impression of the numbers plates in different countries. We also needed a nice web address (url) because we wanted to publish the picture on the web, link to a map and get feed back etc. Maybe the calendar will get more of a digital life in the future?
There is no room for notes, how should I use the calendar?
The wall calendar is intended as a visual complement to a pocket diary or digital calendar. We see it more as a poster with a function. But there is some room if you really want to make notes, maybe with a golden pen.
Tech spec:
• 12 sheets (jan-dec) + 1 sheet with a list of all street addresses.
• High quality uncoated FSC-certified paper in three shade of white. (Munken Rough,170 g/m2)
• Format: A3 (11,7×16,5 in) with a 20 mm (0,8 in) hole for hanging.
• 2 colors: black & white photographs + colored details
• Packing: paper bag with handprinted logo
• Edition: 500
You can find it att Etsy, supermarket, Signerat…
and here you find more retailers
Which city is next?
We haven’t decided on the next city yet, but we are thinking of a Scandinavian calendar, reuse some numbers and get some new in Oslo, maby Reykjavik as well. If you have any suggestions feel free to contact us!
At the Hietaniemi Graveyard in Helsinki. Sometimes you find inspiration at unexpected places. Here are some mobile camera photos taken while getting our son to sleep. And the last picture shows a hard-to-read hospital sign.