E VE RYDAY

MAGAZINE A magazine about graphic design & more

№1
January
2010

/Uglylogo
/Your Friends
/Ian Albinson
/plus
ISBN 7044610021829-9
Graffiti Polaroids,
Everyday Fashion & more NOK: 79,- EUR: 8,- USD: 11,-

7 044610 021829
LETTER
FROM
elcome to the fi rst edition of
EVERYDAY MAGAZINE. There are many
magazines about graphic design, and they
all mostly focus on the works done by
graphic designers. Not that there's anything
THE
wrong with that, but as of 2010 the
internet is overflowing with inspirational
blogs showing all kinds of work from all over
the world. We feel that the magazine, an
analogue format in a digital world, should
EDITOR
function more as a calmer storyteller,
rather than doing on paper what the
internet already does for free without
consuming our planets valuable forests.
In EVERYDAY MAGAZINE we put the people
Mikael S. Fløysand
Editor in chief
before the work, not the work before the
people. In fact, we don't show you any works
at all. Instead, we talk to people we fi nd
interesting within the field of graphic design,
photography and art and try to show you
their story, how they work and live. Why
and how is to us more important than what.
In this issue you can read about a young
and upcoming illustrator, two young graphic
designers and a web designer moonlighting as
a carpenter as well as an industrial designer.
If we've succeded, your grandchildren
can pick up this magazine from a box in the
future, and still fi nd the stories interesting
to read.
 TABLE
OF
CONTENTS

CHATTER
08 The home of
Eli Rose and
Gui, Tokyo.
E V E RY DAY M AGA Z I N E
TALKS
CON T R I BU TOR S

I S SU E 01, JA N UA RY 2 010

Founder & Editor: 18 Silk screen

Mikael Fløysand
Mikael S. Fløysand
Art Director:
10 Inside the
Studio of
printing with
Uglylogo.
– Editor in chief, art director,
photographer & writer
Mikael S. Fløysand
Your Friends. PICTURES
Web:
www.everydaymag.com
hello@everydaymag.com 32 A talk with 52 Monsters
Scary
&
Adress:
12 Graffiti
polaroids
Your Friends
design agency.
Super Creeps.
Kirkeveien 155
0451 OSL O
by Aroe.
Henrik Wold Kraglund Norway
Writer

Typography: 42 Ian Albinson 60 Working

Hard or
Univers LT Std, & his eco-
Plantin Std & Akkurat Light Pro ambitions. Hardly
Working?
Paper:
Scandia Yellow 150g

Ian Albinson
Photographer.

Sindre Rosness Cover photo:

Photographer & model Mikael S. Fløysand
ELI 1 3

& GUI

PHOTOGR A PH ER
The Selby

4
Eli Rose is a model
& DJ living with her
boyfriend Gui who is a
graphic designer. They
live in an apartment in
Tokyo with their cat.

Eli & Gui love each other, but make

sure to save some love for their little
cat so it won't get jelous.

2 3
5 6
Even dj's/models and designers Eli loves to buy anything antique.
have to do the dishes manually. Their Clothes, books, shoes and obviously
kitchen is nice, but lo-fi. clockwork as well.

Gui on the other hand, is more

interested in stuff like horse masks.
It's good for scaring people.

Not very surprisingly,

most of the shoes
belong to Eli.

At the far end of the

appartment next to the
bedroom, they have a
large walk-in closet.

10 | EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 | 11

 2

–YOUR
FRIENDS

PHOTOGR A PH ER
Mikael S. Fløysand

Your Friends consists of Carl

Gürgens and Henrik Fjeldberg, a two 1
man graphic design studio located
in Fredensborgveien 6, Oslo, Norway.
They recently moved into their new
studio, and they're very pleased
with their new location. The studio
consists of a large room with a
bookshelf along the wall (with quite 1
an expanding library), two desks 3
Right next to the entry to the studio,
with macbook pros and external 4
monitors, and a table with chairs for Carl and Henrik have a spot for their
coffee breaks and client meetings. coats and jackets. Their very own
They also have a nice little kitchen, tote bag also rests here.
but they didn't want it to be photo-
graphed as they claimed it wasn't
finished. 2

Read more about Carl & Henrik in the Like any good graphic design studio,
inteview on page 25. Your Friends are young at heart. The
office space sports different toy
objects scattered around.

Ideas come and go, and if all you have

avilable for writing it down is a napkin,
then a napkin it is.

The studio has a large bookshelf at

one end, with an expanding library of
graphic design related books as well
as magazines and paperwork.

12 | EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 | 13

 W R I T ER
Aroe
PHOTOGR A PH ER
Aroe
he question of whether you can
make it into history is a very hard ques-
tion indeed, because it leads to a situation
where you have two ways to answer and
one of them can make you look very arro-
gant. However, with regard to my person-
Like Lipstick Traces al life, it's impossible for me not to make it
Like Lipstick Traces into my family's history. I'm the father of
is a book published by
Dokument Forlag. four children, I have a brother and a sister,
It contains polaroids and a long-term girlfriend who I'm sure
from 9 profilic graf- one day will be my wife. So in that respect
fiti writers collecte
over three years. The I will always be remembered.
writers were not given In terms of graffiti, it's a combina-
any guidelines for how tion of luck, will, ability, passion and the
the pictures should be
taken, and the result is ability to capture other writer's or the
a collection of pictures public's attention, and then holding it
that represents their without disappointing them whilst keep-
personal perspectives.
ing yourself in the spotlight long enough
to make a mark. Whether or not I have
achieved this is not something I would
choose to answer. There are shortcuts to
infamy which a lot of people take, but
I FOUND THE POLAROID QUITE
DIFFICULT TO USE, AND ENDED UP
WASTING A LOT OF FILM ON BLURRY SHOTS
they end up being remembered in a nega-
tive way rather than being respected by
their peers, which by all accounts tend
to last longer. The graffiti scene in the
U.K, London particularly, thrives on
toys crossing and backgrounding more
capable writers' pieces in order to gain
notoriety which has led to a situation not
dissimilar to the lunatics taking over the
asylum. In reality, I can see no end to
this until graffiti, other than tagging, in
our capital is completely dead. Which is,
in short, a tragedy: a short-term gain is
always a long-term loss.
Secret stories.
The drive or force for me personally is
the pursuit of doing the best piece that
I can, which I have never managed to
do. I spent many wasted years in graffiti
not focusing on what I wanted, or what
I thought I wanted. Years of ugly tags,
unfi nished pieces and tons of lame rub-
bish that earnt me no respect from other
writers, or if I'm honest, even myself. I
took som time away from graffiti in the
late nineties and thought a lot about
what writing meant to me, and what re-
ally controlled it and how the fame game
worked. As soon as it becomes clear that
if you are honest and accept that it's
nothing more than painting to collect
props, the easier your goal is to achieve.
This moment of understanding
opened every door that had previously
existed and the game began. We formed
a notorious crew that redressed the who's
who list in our country in a dramatic
fashion that remains to this day. Every
week trying to paint something new, or
twist something old and give it a new life,
pushing better concepts, bigger produc-
tions, better colours and refi ning tech-
niques in the quest for that impossible,
perfect piece.
Instant photography
I found the polaroid quite difficult to
use and ended up wasting a lot of fi lm
with pictures that were too blurry, to-
tally out of focus, too dark or bleached
out completely. However, some pictures
were really nice and certainly captured
things in a way that a regular camera
could not. It was also quite funny, I
would often take it out with me in my
bag and then forget that I had it with
me and miss perfect opportunities for
killer pictures. Sometimes I would be
really busy and not bring the camera out
with me for months at a time. During
the project I broke the original camera
and I had to replace it with one that was
a bit different and that I found easier to
use. That said, I have not taken a single
Polaroid photo since the project fi nished
and possibly never will again.
EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 | 15
1 2

Top left: Brighton. England, 11.2006 Top left: Ljubljana, Slovenia. 01.01.2006
Top right: Haywards heath. 01.2007 Botttom left: Italy. 30.12 2005
Bottom left: Terror fabulous. Brigthton, England Top right: Brighton, England. 09.2006
Bottom right: Brighton. England. 08.2006 Bottom right: Record gems. 08.2005

16 | EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 | 17

 1

Frode found his old t-shirt in the closet at the

studio, and decided to wear it so he wouldn't mess
up the one he was originally wearing. Silk screen
printing is messy stuff.

20 | EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 | 21

 2
W R I T ER
Mikael S. Fløysand
PHOTOGR A PH ER
Mikael S. Fløysand
Being a graphic designer,
illustrator, silk screen
enthusiast and father,
Frode Skaren shows us his
silk screen routines and
talks about his life as a
young designer/illustrator.
glylogo, or Frode Skaren is
an illustrator/graphic designer from
Kvinesdal, Norway. We meet him at the
paper department at Norway Designs in
Oslo, where he is about to purchase pa-
per for his new silkscreening project. We
3 enter the store wondering what he might
look like, and spot a guy who fits the the
image in our heads about a young aspir-
ing artist. After he closes his paper deal
he asks us if we've eaten lunch, we say
no and he then proceeds to ask us if we
eat junk food. Ten minutes later we're at
the burger shop close to the silkscreen
studio he uses.
I always eat lunch here when I'm
printing, he says. I know it's not healthy
but it's so close to the studio. He makes
fun of me as I spend a lot of time framing
a picture of him eating the hamburger.
My brother is a photographer, he's also
just like that, he says. He'll wait forever
before pressing the button, waiting for
people to forget they're being photo-
graphed and act natural.
After fi nishing our food, we walk the
short road up to the silkscreen studio.
Frode calls the overseer, who he men-
tions is a bit strict about letting strangers
22 | EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1
2 3 4
As we were waiting for the green light, Frode enjoying his hamburger, he Frode is concentated while applying
Frode got worried that I might get hit usually eats at the same hamburger the black paint that is going to
by the passing bus while taking this joint everytime he's printing, as it's become the second layer for his
picture. Luckily, I survived. very close to the studio. thank you cards.
into the studio. Luckily, he agrees to let
us join Frode into the silkscreen studio.
We enter the studio, which looks like ex-
pected, not too messy, but not too orga-
nized either. Paint and different objects
related to silkscreen printing are scat-
tered around. Frode points at one of the
dressers labeled "the fittest" and pulls out
different sketches and silkscreen origi-
nals. He shows some skethces that never
got printed, and the original of him and
Mads Omlands Big Venn print. He care-
fully explains the process of printing the got pregnant, so I kinda had to leave Oslo thing many of the students at Visual
different layers on top of each other. and get back home. Communication do a lot.
When I work together with Mads, we I knew at the beginning of the edu- It's something you have to to on your
usually just draw together, building on cation that I wanted to try silk screen own in addition to the other school as-
what the other person does. Though it's printing, so I signed up on one of the signments, and it takes a lot of time.
usually I who arrange the layers and col- courses as soon as I could. I remember I You have to work a lot if you want to
ors for the silk screen process, as I have got there late, which wasn't very popular get good at it, and you have to sacrifice
a better understanding of what needs to with the teacher. I remeber the fi rst thing other things. For instance, one of the last
go where for it to come out right. I screen printed was a Kanye West song I big parties that were held at the school,
was into at the moment. It said the good everyone was there but us. While they
Education life with an illustration (laughs). But I re- were drinking and having fun with the
Frode just fi nished his bachelor in Visual ally enjoyed it, and started doing it more others students, we were here in the stu-
Communication at the Oslo National and more. dio, doing silk screen printing. So doesn't
Academy of arts before summer 2009, We ask him about more about the come for free at all. To me it's all worth
and says he really enjoyed his school days. education, if silk screen printing is com- it though.
I would like to fi nish my masters degree monly practised among the students, and Frode continues to show us the pro-
too, but then my wife back back home are kinda surprised that it is not some- cess of printing, today he's just gonna
EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 | 23
5 WHILE THEY WERE
DRINKING AND HAVING
FUN WITH THE OTHERS
STUDENTS, WE WERE
HERE IN THE STUDIO,
DOING SILK SCREEN
PRINTING.
6

WE ALWAYS DO
SOMETHING WRONG AT
THE SILK SCREEN STUDIO.
WE'LL FORGET TO CAP A
BOTTLE, SPILL SOME PAINT
OR MAYBE EVEN RIP A
FRAME. ONE TIME THOUGH,
WE DID EVERYTHING BY
THE BOOK. AFTER THAT WE
GOT OUR OWN KEYS
TO THE STUDIO.
 5
7 8
Frode gets a call while he's busy
printing, and has to tell the person on
the other end to call back later.

Carefully carrying the frame from

one room to another, making sure it
doesn't rip. The fragile frames do that
quite easily.

7
The floor has seen many years of
young students come and go, and not
every drop of paint is used for printing.
Some ends up on the floor.

Bendik got to be Frodes assistant

during the printing process, he even
got to do a print all by himself.

print a small card that says thank you way of making a great number of prints.
in black and purple letters. I got the idea
Also, for me as a former student at the
a while ago, when a girl from England National Academy of Arts, I don't pay
commented on something I posted on for anything but the paper, so it's a great
my blog, telling me it was nice or some- way of cheap printing if you're up for it.
thing. So I thought, if a girl from another Another student appears, he's going
country takes the trouble to comment on to print something as well. He shows
something I made, why not send them a us the cleaning room where they clean
proper reply. So I got the idea to make the frames. If you're not thorough when
small cards and mail it to people, not just
cleaning the frames after use, you'll make
give them a reply on the internet. It'll a ghost of your print on the frame. And
only cost me about 5 kroner (ca 1$), and then the next person who is going to print
imagine how much of a happy surprise it something completely different may get Uglylogo/Frode Skaren

would be for them. a ghost of your print. And that probably Uglylogo is the name of illustrator
The way I see it there are two ways ofisn't going to be appreciated at all. Frode Skaren. According to him, he
only uses the alias Uglylogo when
promoting yourself as a graphic designer, He fi nishes washing of every remnant he's acting as an illustrator. As a
one is to go around to all the agencies of paint on the frame, assuring that the graphic designer, his name is still
telling them you are the best designer next person who uses it won't get a sur- just Frode Skaren.
He currently resides in Kvinesdal,
in the world, another is to just be pa- prise, and we rejoin Frode who's getting Norway with his wife and baby
tient and generally nice to people. And ready to do what at least he came here for, daughter, where he's having his
I choose that last approach. printing his cards. studio set up in the old barn they
live in.
The fi rst sheets always get ruined He also occationally works together
Printing no matter what he complains. You with Mats Omland under the name
Frode takes opens a bottle of black paint have to get into the fl ow and eventu- The Fittest.
and pours it over the silk screen frame. ally the press will tune in. Like now, the www.uglylogo.com
You have to do one layer for each color upper right print gets messy because www.uglylogo-the-blog.blogspot.com
he says, so it's kind of a time consum- of too much paint. I'm not sure why www.wearethefittest.blogspot.com
ing process. But when you've done ev- that's happening, but it doesn't matter
erything right you have a very effective that much since I'm printing 4 cards

28 | EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 | 29

9
 10 12
9
11
All black is the color that covers the
silk screen frame. Frode wears his
protective clothing so he won't spoil
his clothes.
10
Frode explains the process of printing
in layers, placing the original of the
layer he's going to print on top of the
already printed matter.
11
The finished thank you cards, drying
and waiting to be cut and hopefully
mailed to friends and strangers.
12
We get shown the process of washing,
which is quite a messy experience.
But it's important to do it properly,
frode stresses.
32 | EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1
on each paper, so I'll stil get 3 of them
come out right.
The overseer that we've been warned
about enters the room, and turns out
to be a nice guy after all. He attended
the National Academy of Arts himself
in his youth, and now both prints him-
self and function as an overseer for the
schools silk screen studio. He explains
that though not many of the students at
Visual Communication use the studio,
they really should because it teaches you
the very basics of printing things that
should be experienced with your own
eyes and hands. Much like a photogra-
pher should experience the darkroom
process, even in a digital age like ours.
Frode asks him about his little prob-
lem about the ink bleeding, and he
quikly solves it by adjusting something
on the press. After he leaves us, Frode
talks warmly about him: You can't learn
stuff like that in a year. He's both been
printing and working here for years, and
knows this equipment in and out. I didn't
have a clue about why the ink was bleed-
ing in the corner, and he just came in and
fi xed it like that. That's experience.
We tell him that we were expecting
someone much more strict after what he
told us before, and he just laughs. He's
strict all right. He'll fi nd something to
yell at us about almost every time. We
always do something wrong when we're
in the studio. We'll forget to cap a bot-
tle, spill some paint or maybe even rip a
frame. One time though, we did every-
thing by the books. After that he was so
pleased with us that he gave us our own
keys to the studio so we could come and
go as we please, laughs.
Frode recruits Bendik as his personal
assistant and entrusts him to place the
fi nished paper prints to dry as they get
IT'S ALL ABOUT
SELF PROMOTION.
fi nished. We event get to try to print one
ourselves, and it comes out nicely.
The thank you postcards are fi nished,
and Frode now has a nice number he
can send out to fans and friends. It's all
about self promotion he says, but not in
an intruding way. I've had nice exposure
on the internet, many blogs have picked
up my works and featured them, in fact,
most of the commisions I get arent't from
Norway but from countries like England
who've seen my work on the internet. It's
all about selling yourself but without
coming off like a total douche. And I
think I've managed that, he fi nishes as
we walk out of the studio and into the
cold Norwegian night.
EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 | 33
 1

YOUR
FRIENDS
In this room, the
word cool does not
mean anything at all.

34 | EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 | 35

 2

W R I T ER
Henrik Wold Kraglund
PHOTOGR A PH ER
Mikael S. Fløysand

They've nearly been

labeled fundamentalists.
But Your Friends just
doesn't belive in form over
function. Rather, they
think that people need to be
educated on what graphic
design is really about.

enrik Fjeldberg and Carl

Gürgens met as they studied graphic de-
sign at MI in Oslo. After their studies at
MI, they both got accepted at Central
St. Martins in London, and it was here
they started their cooperation on school
assignments as well as freelance work.
After one year at Central St. martins
Carl moved back to Norway and started
a bachelor in Visual Communication at
The National Academy of Arts in Oslo,
while Henrik stayed behind and complet-
ed his education in London. While Carl
fi nished his fi nal year at The National
Academy of Arts, including an internship
at Node Berlin, Henrik worked at the de-
sign agency Uniform until they in June
2008 established Your Friends.

How did your educations from The National

Academy of Arts in Oslo and Central St.
Martins, London contribute in shaping you
as graphic designers?
At Central St. Martins the most im-
portant thing is that you're allowed to
interpret things in your own way. The
education is quite free, and the school
allows for the students to fi nd their own
way of working.

36 | EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 | 37

 3 4
1
Your Friends is a small agency, but
that doesn't mean their office is
small. Henrik sits behind the
computer, while Carl is on the phone.
2
Carl and Henrik in the other end of
their office, meant for coffee breaks
and client meetings. Henriks prefers
wearing slippers at work.
3
Carl looking serious while being
interviewed by our journalist. Unlike
Henrik, Carl seems to prefer wearing
his real shoes inside.
4
This desk belongs to Carl, and like
many young graphic designers these
days, he also seems to have a love for
trendy bikes.
5
Your Friends were had just returned
from a trip to Tokyo when we met
them, and some of the material they
printed there was on the floor.
38 | EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1
St. Martins favor concept and idea proach to Visual Communication, but we
before form. think it's important to show that graphic
design is more than a surface. Good ideas
How was the first period after you started live longer than fancy decorations.
Your Friends? We do art direction, which, truth be
It's hard to point at anything in par- told, is a pretty watered out term. To us it
ticular, but we definitely learned ex- means to always be involved in every step
tremely much in a very short time. The in the process from the very early stages,
amount of work was surprisingly large and we're more than willing to partake
from the very beginning, and the combi- in the editorial work. We're extremely fo-
nation of design and administrative work cused on being there for the entire pro-
has turned out to be nearly 50/50. Also, cess, and we think this is something that
there's a lot of client meetings. makes the results better.
When you start your own business,
you have to cherish business just as much How do you start a creative process?
as design. We've been very lucky with our It has some connections to our name,
customers. One job has led to the next, Your Friends. We work together with the
usually bigger and more comprehensive. client, and we ask the right questions.
We're also critical about what questions
What kind of approach do you have when it the client is asking.
comes to Visual Communication? – A project always starts with thorough
We're especially interested in printed research, both on verbal and visual ref-
matter, and the little web design we do erences. Vi also do thorough research
are often related to print based jobs. Your on the concept, and reflect over nearly
Friends focus on communicating in sur- everything there is to reflect on. Vi try
prising ways. to find a way that isn't there in the first
To surprise the client, to do something place.
the client didn't think was possible. We've
been called fundamentalists in our ap- Do you work in a special way, any routines?
EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 | 39
 5

40 | EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 | 41

 Every process starts intuitive, but you notice as you fi nish school, that the need 6
have to set certain boundaries and put to learn is still there. And that is a need
the ideas into a system before you do that should always be present.
anything visual. It's about what kind of And ongoing dialogue with the cli-
feeling you get about the project. We wait ent is also important. If you don't meet
a rather long time before we do anything any resistance, you haven't challenged
connected to form, and we want to have enough.
our clients with us on our thoughts be-
fore we present anything visual. Often What are your sources of inspiration? Any
we have to school the clients, make them role models in visual communication, that
conscious about what they've asked us to has an had an impact on what you do today?
do for them. Not only for ourselves, but The study culture that has been going
people need to be taught what design ac- on outside of Norway. The world of de-
tually is. Many clients don't understand sign that lies outside the largest agencies.
what Your Friends actually are able to Countries like France, Germany, The
offer. Netherlands, Switzerland and England,
have an entire different approach to
Do you have a special kind of clients? graphic design. They're dedicated people
We've worked a lot with customers with an ownership to what they do, and
from the cultural spectrum, which again that's inspiring.

OFTEN WE HAVE TO
SCHOOL OUR CLIENTS, MAKE
THEM CONSCIOUS ABOUT WHAT
THEY'VE ASKED US TO DO FOR THEM.
has developed to larger culture projects Henrik mentions Alan Fletcher as one
that are more commercial. It has been a of his main inspirational sources, while
steep climb, but not in any conscious way. Carl mentions Experimental Jetset, not
It became so, more or less randomly. We necessarily because of the visuals, but
were very lucky with our fi rst clients, like because of their simple communication.
The National Academy of Arts, and then Direct communication is extremely
it just went onward from there. valuable. That is something that norwe-
gians aren't very good at interpreting. As
Are you so privileged that you are able to long as things look good, that's enough.
reject clients? "Kult" (cool) is the most overused word
We're not in a situation where we can in Norway. In this office, that word doesn't
pick and choose at all, but there has of exist. We want to show what design can
course been instances where we've said be. We work big, with small things.
no. We say no to projects we don't see
any potential in. We also don't like it if Are there any side projects alongside Your
we're brought in at the end of the pro- Friends that you work on?
cess, like when someone has a concept I'm working on a font for Gestalten.
and everything ready and think "now we I have the rights, while Gestalten is the
just need to slap some design on it and distributor, says Carl.
it's ready to go". We're typography nerds, and we
We don't want to do just fi nishing. would like to do more fonts. It's impor-
tant to work on private projects, and we
Do you have any dream clients? have many thoughts and plans, but little
Oh, it's that question again. We always time. We get our way with many of our
struggle with that. (laughs) I can't name ideas while working with Your Friends
any names, but we want to work with though, that helps a little.
clients who understand design. We just
want to do really good jobs, expand our Any visions for the future?
spectrum, open peoples eyes to what we I would like to be able to tell a random
think is good design. It's also very inspir- person that I'm a graphic designer, and
ing to work with things you don't know that person would know what I am do-
anything about, with a client relationship ing. But that may be an impossible goal,
based on mutual respect for each others Henrik fi nishes.
field of expertise.
It's important that we learn something
from the projects. That's something you Visit www.yourfriends.no to view works.

42 | EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 | 43

 1

BUILDING AN
ECO-FRIENDLY
HOUSE IN VERMONT
Taking responsibility, and
getting dads help in doing so.

44 | EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 | 45

 2 3

W R I T ER
Christie Matheson
PHOTOGR A PH ER
Ian Albinson

Ian Albinson and his girlfriend Raedia decided to build

their own house. Not just any house, their dream house
is both practical and striving for a 5 Star Plus Energy
rating. And they did it all themselves, with a lot of help
from contractors and a helpful dad.

1
aedia and Ian Albinson are veered north. "We thought we could af-
used to thinking outside the box. So when ford to buy land and build the house we Ians dad working on the exterior of
the house.
the artistic couple - she's an animator, he's wanted in Vermont," says Ian, 33. They
a designer and media producer - started found a 15,682-square-foot parcel near
house hunting, it's not surprising that the town center in Bristol - and arranged
2
their search took an unconventional turn. telecommuting gigs with their companies.
They yearned for community, prox- Ian may own the house, but his dad
is helping him finish it. When Ian is
imity to farmer's markets, and a space Green money too tired to work, his dad doesn't
uniquely suited to their tastes. They Then they had to fi nd a mortgage. A hesitate to shake him up.
also wanted to live green. To them, this green house costs more to build (even
meant more than adding eco-friendly- though, when fi nished, it's often worth
looking fi nishes. It meant fi nding - or more) than a non-green house of the
3
building - a house with passive heating same size and in the same location. But
and cooling capabilities and energy-effi- the loan officers whom the Albinsons The original drawing plans for the
house. His dad drew those as well.
cient insulation and using Energy Star- spoke to couldn't take this into account
rated appliances and lighting. It meant when determining an appropriate loan
avoiding fossil fuels. And it meant using size; there weren't any other local houses
as many green building materials as pos- like it on the market with which they
sible, and choosing a spot located within could compare. "The people doing the
walking distance, not driving distance, appraisal had no clue what we were try-
of daily activities. ing to do," Ian says. "They just didn't
After a fruitless search in the Boston have the knowledge about sustainable
area, where their jobs are based, they design and building to understand its

46 | EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 | 47

 4 5

The small model of the house Ian and Rae dreamt Winter has come, and the exterior of the house is
up, ready to be set into life in full scale. finished and bathing in the sunset of Vermont.

48 | EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 | 49

 value." But Ian and Raedia, 27, success- will pay for itself in 10 to 12 years. built-in unit behind that. Looked at cork, About the house design
6
fully argued their case. "Ultimately, the One of the Albinsons' cost-cutting, loved it, but it's just too darn expensive. The main goal is a super insulated house, that
requires minimum energy to run. The overall design
bank designed a new green building loan and ultra green, tricks: using castoffs All the marmoleum that we've used have of the house and placement on the land takes into
program based on us," Ian adds trium- from other construction projects. "We been remnants, and run about $1.33 sq account passive heating and cooling, reducing
phantly. went to places that carry Marmoleum ft, which is incredibly cheap. Cork starts the mechanical systems that we'll need over the
changing seasons. Vermont can have extremely
They broke ground in May 2007. "We and asked them for remnants," Ian says. around $4.50 cold winters, as well hot and humid summers, so
studied shelter magazines and collected "You have to go to a lot of showrooms Not every material in the house is the systems used need to cover a large range of
designs we liked," Raedia says. "Flooring, and look in the back." They used as completely green, nor is the home fully temperatures. One aspect that was very important
to me was to see if we could reduce our fossil fuel
details, materials… there's so much to many reclaimed and salvaged materials carbon-neutral. "We still pull energy
use, meaning no natural gas (which is scarce in VT
think about." Ian's dad, a master wood- as possible, such as a substantial set of from the electric grid," Ian says. Still, anyway), propane (widely used), or oil (also widely
worker who lives in nearby New Haven, 500-year-old Douglas fi r support beams compared with a conventional home, used). An all electric house however can skyrocket
utility bills, depending on what you're running, so
Vermont, drew up the house plans. They and drawers and doors left over from a this is a seriously earth-friendly abode.
we decided to offset this with a geothermal heat
positioned the house and the windows woodworking company's other projects. No one looking at it would ever know pump system for our main heating/cooling and
to maximize passive heating and cooling the Albinsons chose concrete made with hot water heating. Regarding electricity, Vermont
and natural light. Floorwork fl y ash (a greener alternative to standard is lucky that a very high percentage of its power
comes from either hydro or nuclear, two very clean
I'm surpised you desided not to roll with concrete) for the foundation and slab, or sources (nuclear has larger implications of course),
What have you been doing on your own wood (or even bamboo) for the main living that all the wood comes from carefully as well as cow power at a slightly extra cost, and so
exactly? Are you supervising builders, or did area. What made you go with carpet? managed sources. all electric seemed to make the most sense.

you, say, pour the slab yourself, etc? We went back and forth between wood To off set the costs of their green As it stands now, a geothermal system will be
Since we both work full-time, the and carpet, but the latter ended up being choices, they've tackled most of the in- combined with an HRV (Heat Recovery Ventilator)
main construction of the house, includ- much cheaper, quicker to install, quieter, terior work on their own, from painting and hydronic heating/cooling furnace, similar
to traditional forced air systems. An HRV
ing concrete, framing, systems etc. were cleaner (in terms in capturing dust etc. with low-VOC paint to floor installations. however is a air circulation system that provides
done by a great group of contractors. instead of "dust bunnies" which you of- But it's been worth it. "It can be depress- constant filtered fresh air from outside, while
The design, research and interior/exte- at the same time removing the stale air from
inside. The recovery part is that it transfers the
rior fi nishing (painting, cabinetry, land-
scaping etc.) is being done by us with a THEY JUST DIDN'T HAVE temperature of the inside air back to the new air
coming in, keeping it warm in the winter and cool

THE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT

ton of help from my folks. in the summer. What this type of system gives
us is excellent indoor air quality year round, and
We would have liked to have worked the ability to heat or cool the air cleanly via its
more on the construction, to keep costs
down, but working and living 4 hours
SUSTAINABLE DESIGN AND BUILD- hybronic coil.

away in Boston didn't help.

Sourcing cost-effective green ma-
ING TO UNDERSTAND ITS VALUE.
terials proved the most challenging.
Visit www.vtecobuilder.com for
While ecofriendly materials are more ten get with wood floors) and it's cozier. ing at times to live in an unfi nished more pictures and updates about
widely available than ever, they found We used Shaw brand, a very tight ber- house. It's tempting just to do things the the project.
that many come with a big price tag. ber weave, which should last 10 years or conventional way," Ian says. "But you
"Focusing on green materials that we more, and can be fully recycled by the always have to keep in mind that being
could actually afford helped us narrow company. Carpet made from recycled green really is important."
things down," Ian says. content was another option, but it tends
to be much more plush, loose weave,
Presumably you're steering clear of the which doesn't last as long.
6
dreaded concrete? As for wood, Bamboo was out since 7 8
Would have liked to, but since the site it's very hard to know what the com- Ians dad is a master woodworker,
and building cabinets for the office
is sloped and we wanted to cut into it panies are like that export from China space is just a walk in the park.
to give us downstairs rooms, there was (human rights, sustainability etc.) and
quite a bit. We tried to use as much fly local hardwoods (New England region
ash as we could in the mix, but even that and Canada) were more expensive per
needs to be transported from great dis- square foot. Install can also be expensive,
7
tances. There are no simple "green" solu- or time consuming if you do it yourself.
tions with concrete, but it's an extremely That's for pre-fi nished wood. The exterior of the house, now with
finished concrete steps.
versatile material that lasts for decades. Unfi nished can be cheaper, but then
you're still nailing or gluing it down your-
Salvaging self, renting the big ass sander, then fi n-
They skipped the expensive Paperstone ishing and it's never going to be as good
8
counters (made of recycled paper) as pre-fi nished's 10 coats and UV cure
and instead chose more affordable treatment processes. Rae is working on the floor made of
leftover pieces of marmoleum, it's
Marmoleum (a green flooring and quite like putting together a large
countertop material). They opted out of Are the bathroom floors marmoleum too? puzzle.
big-ticket items like an induction cook- Did you consider cork for anywhere as a
top and photovoltaic solar panels but flooring solution?
splurged on a geothermal heating sys- Yup, both the master and utility room/
tem. "We had the option of going with guest bathroom have marmoleum as the
an efficient propane-based furnace, but flooring as well as the vanity counter
stuck with our no-fossil-fuel mandate," tops. We've also used it for the kitchen
Ian says - plus, he estimates the system counters and will for the office desk and

50 | EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 | 51

 SC A RY
MONST ER S
& SU PE R CR E E PS

Photographer:
Sindre Rosness
Models:
Sindre Rosness, Mikael S. Fløysand,
Jens Bjørklund, Mari Hagen Nilsen,
Eirik stiansen & Kasper Amundsen
Tuvnes
Location:
Party at Kirkeveien 155,
Oslo, winter 2009

Jens is wearing a striped

shirt from H&M, &
black jeans from Nudie

54 | EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1
 Mari is wearing a dress from Top
Shop & a white cardigan from
Gina Tricot. Mikael is wearing a
grey shirt from H&M & black
jeans from Nudie. Ingar is
wearing a shirt from NY.

58 | EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 | 59

 Sindre is wearing a striped shirt
from H&M, a black Cardigan
from Selected Homme & grey
jeans from Acne. Knife from
Fiskars.

60 | EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 | 61

 WOR K I NG
HARD
OR
H A R DLY
WOR K I NG?
Phographer:
Mikael S. Fløysand
Models:
Sindre Rosness
& Kasper Amundsen Tuvnes
Location:
Kitchen/Office/Livingroom
Oslo, winter 2009

62 | EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1
66 | EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 | 67
68 | EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 EVERYDAY MAGAZINE №1 | 69
Next issue:
summer 2010