Höfuðstöðin / The Headquarters
- Branding & Strategy
- Signage & Wayfinding
- Höfuðstöðin is Iceland's only single female artist venue
Höfuðstöðin (The Headquarters) is the permanent home of Icelandic artist Shoplifter/Hrafnhildur Arnardottir’s acclaimed art installation "Chromo Sapiens." Karlssonwilker created Hofustodin's visual identity, wayfinding, and product design with a playful approach that is in direct dialogue with the artwork itself and the site-specific venue.
The objective was to create branding that combines the serious form language of an international art institution with the irreverence and humor of "Chromo Sapiens." Juxtaposing sober and minimal black and white graphics with the exuberantly colorful and tactile installation creates an element of surprise that adds joy and excitement to the visitor's experience.
"Karlssonwilker’s branding for Höfuðstöðin has an institutional air to it, but with hidden humor. They have created an instantly recognizable design where everything fits inside the concept without being overly descriptive on the outside."
Shoplifter/Hrafnhildur Arnardottir in front of the logo. The mark’s cascading rows of letters play with the strangeness of the Icelandic alphabet. To a foreigner, the name Höfuðstöðin looks practically illegible. We exaggerated this effect by repeating the word until it’s basically reduced to a decorative pattern.
Flags greet visitors on the road to Höfuðstöðin.
The logo is further explored and appropriated in motion graphics, merchandise, and packaging.
From the front, Höfuðstöðin’s exterior has the look of an upscale garage, and the building is semi-attached to a complex of auto shops and car wash businesses. To make the entrance stand out from a distance, Karlssonwilker designed rooftop signage in the shape of a massive spinning car wash brush, making a connection to the immersive, waterfall-like quality of the installation, the unspooled look of the logo, and the location itself. (Due to a pending permit process, this sign is still in progress.)