All Access

Job no:

Scn :

#

1

Dept : D

Job no:81378-5 Title : RP_All Access (New PB Verdions) Client : Pro-vision

Scn :

#

175 Size : 203.2(w)254(h)mm Co : M6 (mac J)

Dept : DTP D/O : 22.10.05 (Job no:000000 D/O : 00.00.04 Co: CM0)

p160

5th Black

20

KARLSSON

WILKE R

HJALTI

JAN

2001.

EL DINER, restaurant signage and artifacts.

karlssonwilker developed a complete identity around a set.

of seven metal letters the owner found at a flea market.

and arranged to spell El Diner (versus Red Line or Lie Nerd).

They created a complete font—El Font—to match the logo.

and proceeded to decorate the entire joint, including pencils,

sugar packets, and toothpick wrappers.

All_Access_154-208-10-13-05-M6.qxd 10/25/05 11:10 AM Page 160

Job no:81378-5 Title : RP_All Access (New PB Verdions) Client : Pro-vision

Scn :

#

175 Size : 203.2(w)254(h)mm Co : M6 (mac J)

Dept : DTP D/O : 22.10.05 (Job no:000000 D/O : 00.00.04 Co: CM0)

5th Black

p161

K

ARLSSON Hjalti Karlsson came first. Born in Reykjavik, Iceland, in 1967, he was

raised by his father, an executive with the National Icelandic Bank, and his

mother, a painter. “She always encouraged me to draw and take life drawing

classes, but I was never good at either.”

After spending his first year in college studying physics, he soon transferred to the

Reykjavik School of Visual Arts. Upon graduation he took time off from art and worked

as a driver, distributing candy. At one drop-off, he bought an instant lottery ticket and

suddenly found himself with an extra $13,000 (US) to spend. He decided to use this seed

money to apply to the Parsons School of Design in New York. He made the move

in 1989, and completed his bachelors of fine arts degree three years later.

W

ILKER Jan Wilker, born in 1972, grew up in Ulm, Germany, home of the

storied Hochschule für Gestaltung [the Ulm School of Design], founded

in 1953 as a school for radical modernism. By the time it closed in 1968, it had

already infused the city with its energy, providing an early but lasting influence on Wilker.

Following high school, Wilker joined forces with a friend to start the Büro für Alles

Kreative und Verrrückte—the Office for All Things Creative and Crazy. “We had all these

ideas, so we rented a very cheap place, bought a phone, a fax, and a Xerox machine,

and started going there every day. We did it to have a room and an address for our

ideas.” Wilker had created a prototype for his later collaboration with Karlsson. “We

represented musicians, took part in architecture competitions, organized events, and

designed a movable bar and a fitness obstacle course. We eventually designed logos,

posters, and CD covers as well as many, many more things.” Two years later, he decided

to get a serious education and enrolled in the architecture program at the Technical

University of Stuttgart. “I thought architecture would combine all the design fields, but it

didn’t.” He transferred to the State Academy of Fine Arts, majoring in graphic design.

S

AGMEISTER Meanwhile, Karlsson had wrapped up his degree at Parsons and

entered the work force, first as a designer at the mature-women’s magazine

Longevity, then as a freelancer. In 1996, he landed his dream job: He went to work

for Stefan Sagmeister [p. 42], who quickly became a mentor to Karlsson. They would

be a team for the next four years, riding the growing wave of Sagmeistermania together.

One coming from Iceland, the other from Germany, Hjalti Karlsson and Jan Wilker

met in New York.and decided to start a company together. Relying on clean

yet quirky designs and on the power.of English as a second language, they are

making.the world a little safer for designers with a sense of humor.

161

0

ER

N

All_Access_154-208-10-13-05-M6.qxd 11/28/05 5:16 PM Page 161