ANDREAS MARKDALEN Andreas Markdalen is a swedish designer based in London where he graduated and made is working base. There's one word that comes to our mind when we see his work: coolness. So if you want to know what coolness is, just read the interview.
Nuno Soares/ Cristina Correia
29.09.2005
NEOZINE* - You have a very interesting use of typography and colour. How do you experiment them?
ANDREAS MARKDALEN - It varies from project to project, depending on what kind of message the client is trying to communicate to the recipient. Most of the projects I’ve been involved in during the last year have been in some form of creative branding where the main objective has been to generate an interesting composition with a branded message, and sometimes you’re able to go a bit further in your experimentation with type and colour than other times. Which of course is interesting and inspiring. With the ALU “Nothing is what it seems” campaign in particular; I’ve made attempts to approach each project using a lot of hands-on techniques and ideas; stencils, hand-written wording, photocopying/scanning etc., and I believe it has added a level of authenticity to the ALU profile. The overall style of the retail and visual merchandising industry is quite slick and minimalist – so we’ve aimed to go the opposite way to stand out a bit and show that we’re capable of being different and taking risks. I like when things look a bit offbeat and asymmetric, and this has been applied to great extent on use of typefaces throughout the campaign. In terms of colours, I really have no specific process in choosing them. Either I have a colour that I’ve been asked to incorporate or I spend hours finding combinations that I like and that suits the image. It tends to be bold colours, a lot of pinks and purples, anything that looks fresh to me.
NEOZINE* - Installations are an important part of your recent work. Is this a direction you are heading too, or is it part of experimentation?
ANDREAS MARKDALEN - The installations are a 100% ALU and is something that has come with the job as a designer in the retail industry I guess. It’s a very interesting type of project to work with because of its’ scale and the kind of impact it has on people. The installations were made for three separate fairs this year, Euroshop in Germany, Globalshop in the U.S. and Salone del Mobile (Zona Tortona) in Italy. They have been collaborative efforts within the creative department of ALU where my role was primarily in art direction, working along with interior designers, audio designers and constructors. It has opened my eyes to a lot of things that were unknown to me previously in terms of design – and has definitely created an interest for me to get more into environmental concepts in my future work.
NEOZINE* - All works for ALU are quite amazing. Was this because the client relation allowed this creativity blast or it is common in your professional work to head towards experimenting areas?
ANDREAS MARKDALEN - Thank you very much for saying so. Well, ALU is a company in change and it has been a nice atmosphere to work in. In the creative department we’ve been six people in total, one creative director, four designers and myself, all from different backgrounds and of different nationalities. It’s been fun and we’ve pushed each other to do great things. As a graphic designer it’s been good because I’ve been able to work quite independently with a lot of creative freedom and very little restrictions from “above”. All work does however come from discussing moods and references with the creative director and the others in the team.In terms of experimentation I get a lot of influence from independent culture; music and art, I always liked unconventional things really. Everything from Anticon hiphop to Chris Cunningham and David Lynch, and I find it interesting to play around with these influences. As I’ve just recently started my career as a graphic designer I hope to be able to produce more work with a personal edge, incorporating sound and motion as well in the future. I believe it’s very important to move away from corporate work sometimes and find new ways of self-expression and collaboration.What has surprised me this year is how experimental corporate work actually can be, and it’s been a really nice experience for me.
NEOZINE* - Branding Design vs. Illustration. Are these two distinct areas or your intention is to "master" each?
ANDREAS MARKDALEN - I think that depends on how you would define the two. To me it’s all just a matter of projects with a brief and a final destination, I rarely view them as separate areas. As mentioned previously there is definitely a side of me that wants to try new ways of working, and illustration is something I’m very interested in doing more of. Many of my favourite designers work solely for magazines, a platform that most certainly allows you to be more artistic in your approach – at the same time, corporate or branding design is very challenging and I like the amount of pressure you’re under when constructing an image with both an aesthetic and commercial purpose.I’m still settling in doing this kind of work. At the moment I just want to do as many things as possible, try to do it well and learn a lot throughout the experience!
NEOZINE* - And what about site design? Your clean, very Scandinavian site design seems to have quite interesting directions to evolve. Are you intending to develop this particular area?
ANDREAS MARKDALEN - It’s funny that you mention Scandinavian design because it’s actually something I’ve been trying to move away from in my recent work! I believe that the perception of what Scandinavian design is is changing these days as most young talented designers from these countries are going in new directions. It’s noisier and wilder now, and more exciting in my opinion. This doesn’t necessarily mean that I dislike clean, minimalist design – it’s just interesting to see the development.With the web sites I’ve designed this year, I’ve approached them as unique projects and tried to find a style suitable for the clients. As it happened, we wanted to create a very slick, corporate web platform for ALU, to be launched with a lot of internal features and functionality. Kalle Edberg, a young golf professional from Sweden, needed sponsorship from larger and local companies that also demanded a modern look. Same thing with the art sales company Danart. It’s all for a reason – and not because I promote a certain style.Many interesting things have happened in online design during the last couple of years, and I hope to be able to work more with digital media and interaction in the future. At the moment I’m working on a web site for Blende Music, a house musician and DJ from Stockholm – where I definitely will push the boundaries of what I can do with site design. Needless to say I’m a great fan of Hi-Res! and those companies that deliver experiences more than static web sites. It’s all about time and finding the right kind of projects in the end. I’m open to everything.
NEOZINE* - On your web site says you are looking for a Full-time position in London. Is freelancing not your thing or making a career on a company seems the best fit for your work?
ANDREAS MARKDALEN - As it looks right now freelancing is better for me. I’m currently involved in a number of projects for ALU and with a couple of clients in Stockholm so these are projects I intend to finish on a freelance basis. I keep my options open and am open to new projects and ideas!
ANDREAS MARKDALEN 
