:Orn Smári Gislason

About me:

I have been an independent graphic designer and art director for over 14 years. Since graduating from the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts in 1995, I have worked at several top advertising agencies as a designer, concept creator and artistic director. I have also drawn and designed over 100 stamps for Iceland Post for various occasions and themes, including 9 four-stamp series in the stamp series Contemporary Icelandic Design, RÚV – 50 Years of Televsion, the 100 year anniversary of Icelandic sovereignty and, most recently, the Icelandic men’s national team at the FIFA World Cup in Russia.

I have designed many logos, including for Mjólka, Metró, Lindaskóli, Oddur golfklúbbur, GKG and Pokasjóður.

My website is OrnSmari.is

Some of my work has received awards and prizes, both domestically and abroad.

The Daily T-Shirt X Year Anniversary is my first book. I have been working on it since February, when I began digging up the files and images I posted on Eyjan.is in late 2008 and early 2009. When I looked at the material in chronological order I saw that it told a unique story. This began as light-hearted social critique but changed dramatically at the onset of the banking crisis, when financial institutions, Icesave, bankers and fat cats took the stage. There was not much positive to report in the wake of the crisis and ultimately, this side project of mine ceased to be in February 2009. I have designed some T-shirts since then but most have not been seen publicly, apart from a few shared with friends on Facebook, until the publication of this compilation.

The book sheds an interesting light on this dramatic era of recent Icelandic history, the exuberance, excitement, uncertainty and even desperation, all from the perspective of the average Joe.