SKAGGS Blog -

What level of commitment does it take to see a project through from concept to execution? Passion, commitment and even–sometimes–a trip to the Emergency Room!

Regular readers of this blog will know that as part of my involvement with nurturing talented young designers on American and Icelandic shores, I am often asked to lend my expertise and experience to teaching undergraduates the basics of branding and design.

The holiday season is upon us, and with it the cards, gift boxes and wrapping paper. Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that Americans will generate five million tons of household waste – twenty-five percent more than the usual four million. That’s equal to the weight of five million Volkswagen beetles, twenty-five-thousand 747 airplanes, or thirteen and a half Empire State Buildings.

In order to cut down…

According to a recent study by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Trust for America’s Health, two-thirds of all Americans are overweight or obese. But as the health care debate continues in Washington, members of the so-called “fat pride” community are fighting what they see as a national prejudice against fat people. As the New York Times reported recently, “heavier Americans are pushing back now with newfound vigor in the policy…

Late last month, the Reykjavik City Environment and Transport Council agreed to establish a task force to increase the presence of electric cars and charging stations in Iceland’s capital. Their decision to shift toward an electricity-based model was born out of the 2008 Driving Sustainability Conference in Reykjavik, where pioneers in the movement to achieve environmentally sustainable transportation decided that electricity proved more efficient than hydrogen. The recent 2009 Conference saw…

As the McDonald’s franchise closed up shop in Reykjavik last weekend, many perceived the company’s decision to pull out of Iceland as yet another setback for the country’s struggling economy. In truth, it was just the opposite.

By contract, the McDonald’s franchise holder in Iceland – Lyst, which, coincidentally, means “appetite” – was required to import all of its food from Germany. The result was that much of the 650 krona…

It was an honor to be asked by the University of Iceland to teach a class on marketing and communications with an emphasis on developing a grassroots campaign. My goal was to show my students the foundations of a successful campaign, and how marketing must be targeted to reach each generation. As the class learned, there’s a big difference between a Baby Boomer audience and Generation X —…

And me too, and me too…

that’s the attitude and service we received from FedEx Kinkos’s while hiring them for a paid “test run” of poster for our client. Meanwhile, they’ve potentially lost a 1/2 million dollar job due to lack of managing their custumer service and quality control. I recently read that “Kinkos’s wasn’t doing too great…” I wonder why?

In an age where smaller businesses are ruling the…

My brother, Johannes Niels, known as Nilli in the Icelandic art world has been painting oil on canvas since 1989. I have never had the chance to see a full series of his paintings until this past weekend and I must say that I was positively surprised!

He had an opening reception of his work he named Flags and People at a…

I just remember thinking: “First day of school: Cold, cold, cold” I had forgotten my mittens in NY and my hands were purple when I walked into the schools library to present the assignment. I badly needed my gloves! I drank tea and more tea to warm me up until I started to sweat and stink :-( oh my… that’s exactly what I feared the most; a stinking teacher with bad…

I was invited to be a guest teacher at the Myndlistaskolinn á Akureyrar (the Arts and Crafts Collage in Akureyri) for 2 weeks in January. Akureyri, is a town in Northern Iceland and sits at the end of a fjord called Eyjarfjordur, a very deep a beautiful fjord that can be very cold and is very dark during the winter months. Not far from Akureyri (less than 100 km)…

The guest at SKAGGS’ Holiday soiree didn’t have to worry about eating copious amounts of calorie laden appetizers thanks to Peter Kamieniecki, the mastermind behind Mrs. Le’s — fresh and innovative Vietnamese inspired food. His concept is good, wholesome food made up of purely organic ingredients.

Born in Vietnam and raised in California, Peter decided to bring his knowledge of Viet-Cuisine to NYC with a plan of launching his mouth…

Iceland is more than just volcanic spa baths, vikings and vodka…

It’s my motherland and home to some of the most cutting edge artists, talented musicians and fashion designers and interestingly enough, hair stylists. We’ve just completed a website for Harbeitt, a premier hair salon in Hafnafj??rdur, Iceland, that truly represents the cool fun and down to earth people that work there.

Harbeitt…

A couple of weeks ago I visited the de Young Musuem in San Francisco to see the Vivienne Westwood: 36 Years in Fashion exhibit. What a great show! It was just so incredibly inspiring to look at Vivienne’s work and to see how she grew from a “sex clothes” designer to a punk and then into a haute couture designer. I wish there were more females in the fashion industry that would…

As some of you might already know, Skaggs was asked to create a gift card or gift box for TOTO’s Neorest 600 product, a super, hi-tech toilet with a “wash your bum feature”, amongst other hi-end features (see here for more info) for the 10 most popular actresses in Hollywood. One of them being Helen Mirren.

I’m not sure if the gifts arrived before the Oscar Night, but I would…