North Limited is a group of exciting, young Icelandic designers that create furniture and home accessories. Made up of tableware designer Sigríður Hjaltdal Pálsdóttir of BYBIBI, design studio FÆRID and product designer Guðrún Valdimarsdóttir, their designs ‘aim to integrate the enjoyment of using simple beautiful things in your everyday life’. I love their approach – they each work under their own brand, but they support one another in the design processes, share a network and exhibit together.
For the past five years, they’ve been making a name for themselves in their native Iceland. Having only recently started exhibiting together as a group, they will be showcasing some beautiful new pieces in the Emerging Brands section of 100% Design at the London Design Festival this month. I caught up with them just before the festival begins to find out a bit more about their philosophy and the designs that will be on show.
How and when did you found North Limited?
We had previously exhibited in larger group shows together at DesignMarch in Reykjavík, but the real game changer for us was when we all went to Germany for a design exhibition. During the preparations for that show we started working together and straight away we realised how beneficial it was to have a collaboration like this and exhibit as a group instead of as individual brands.
Can you tell us a bit about the furniture you design? Do you all work together on pieces or design separate pieces?
We are all working within our own brands and create different lines of furniture and design. It’s really fun to see how well our pieces work together even though we all have different inspirations and different ways of working. All of our work though aims to integrate the enjoyment of using simple beautiful things in your everyday life.
The pieces BYBIBI have an organic feel to them whilst allowing the user to play with the final use of the products. FÆRID’s designs are all designed with the user in mind. The designs all have multiple usages, and are inspired greatly from the nordic social heritage, as well as the Icelandic nature. In Gudrun Vald.’s products, wood plays the dominant part, and she plays with the contrast of the wood with different colours in her work.
What will you be showcasing at London Design Festival this year?
Our stand will be at the Emerging Brands section at the 100% Design in Olympia, where we will be showcasing plates made of stones and marble called Stefnir, a line of multifunctional ceramic cups, saucers, plates called Family by BYBIBI. There will also be nesting tables by FÆRID, called BERG, and candlesticks called Keilir and a desk called Hylur by Guðrún Vald.
Have you been before, is there anything you’re particularly looking forward to?
Last year FÆRID participated in the Emerging brands at a 100% Design and the show was so fantastic that we signed up for this years show, right there on the spot. We’re all really looking forward to all the interesting talks during the show, especially the Pecha Kucha talks.
What does the future hold for North Limited, any exciting projects lined up?
We will be participating in more design shows around Europe in the next year, and we want to retail our products around Europe. Of course as designers we always have new project and pieces developing and lined up for production, but you will just have to stay tuned as they are all a bit of a secret for now 😉
Thankyou for chatting to me North Limited! Find out more about their work here, or visit them at 100% Design in London from 23 – 26 September.
