Today we are dreaming about a tropical getaway, meet Thorunn Arnadottir who designed a range of props for a £1 trip to the ‘Tropicania’ ! Tell us about you and what you do? I am a designer based in London, originally from Iceland. I graduated from the Royal College of Arts last year and have since then been working on various projects, commissions and freelancing, as well as developing my own products for production in collaboration with other companies. My work spans a host of different topics and techniques, driven by experimentation and deep research into cultural origins and human interactions. Tell us about Tropicania Pineapple? The Tropicania Pineapples are flatpack props for tropical day dreaming, designed to add a touch of adventure to existing tableware. The pineapples are made of paper with mint green colour on one side and brown wood print on the other. They fit around a regular wine glass and one drinking straw (included). What inspired you to make Tropicania Pineapple? “Tropicania” (“Bongóblida” in Icelandic) was a collaboration project between me, Sigridur Sigurjonsdottir and Hreinn Bernhardsson in the spring/summer of 2009. This was just after the economic crisis hit Iceland and we were also getting very tired of a long and hard winter that didn’t seem to want to give way for spring. We talked about how everyone just longed to escape. The dream of a hot “tropical getaway”, which was so unreachable because of sky high prices. Our response to that was to design a range of props to allow you to  submerge yourself in the occasional daydream of something more exotic and different. The “Tropicania” range included an extendable dining table with a pop-up palm tree as a centre piece, and different props to transform existing tableware, such as pineapples, coconuts, flowers, birds and butterflies, all foldable from a flat sheet. What are you working on at the moment? At the moment I have just about finished the last final adjustments to my “Devil’s Pets” cat candles that will go into production within few weeks. These are candles in the shapes of sweet little kittens. When lit, they will transform in the fire, into grinning skeleton devils with sharp claws and fire blazing in their eyes! I am working on the next animal in the range as well “Phoenix”, a bird. I am also working on some new work, including another different range of candles that we are aiming to put into production in January. It will all be revealed soon! 5. Last but not least, what are your thoughts on affordable design? I think designers should get involved in designing products in every price category from low to high. “Design” is not something to increase the price of a product. It increases it’s value by utilising creative thinking, which in turn can often results in a lower price and better products! I wish more companies would see this possibility in design, instead of thinking of it merely as a marketing strategy. See more of Thorunn Arnadottir’s work here  

POSTED BY: THE POUNDSHOP