Commissioning party: Svalbard Fangst Tommy Sandal
Practitioner: TANK Design Tromsø AS
Wild and wonderful design
Svalbard Fangst is a family business - mum, dad and two daughters - and one of the few that engages in traditional year-round trapping on Svalbard. The family uses traditional trapping methods to obtain all raw materials and supplies locally sourced food and handicrafts to the various communities on Svalbard.
Photo: TANK Design
Panel remarks
The design for Svalbard Fangst is a study in quality craftsmanship. The designers approached the task with respect and devotion and listened more than they talked. The panel would like to point out that the profile for Svalbard Fangst follows familiar tracks in terms of the form itself, i.e. the use of elements from trapping history and the aesthetics of life in such places. But Svalbard Fangst prevents this from becoming a pastiche in that the work is carried out in a heartfelt manner with an insightful eye for details and materials.
The result is graphic communication that cultivates a genre and is perceived as both modern and authentic, combining contemporary elements and the practically based design language of a trapper. It is incredibly cool that a small business like Svalbard Fangst has gone ‘all-in’ with a design agency – our hats off to them!
