Lundgren+Lindqvist            

Can you tell us your name and describe the work that you do?
My name is Andreas Friberg Lundgren and I am co-founder and Art Director at Lundgren+Lindqvist. We are a design and development studio working on projects of varying scale for clients around the world. Our clients include artists and galleries, companies and agencies and our work span design of publications and other printed matter, visual identity design and design and development of websites.



Where are you based and how does that play into your work?
We are based in Gothenburg, which is the second largest city in Sweden. Compared to our capital, Stockholm, the vibe in Gothenburg is perhaps slightly more relaxed. Our work and team have an international focus, so I do not think our geographical location influences our work to any greater extent.




How would you describe your design style? How has your style changed over time?
To us, style is always subordinate to concept, and I like to think that we are rather fluid in that respect; adapting our approach to the project at hand. The studio has been in business for 15+ years now and we were definitely more rigid in our design approach earlier, with our work abiding to a more confined set of principles. However, time and experience has given us the confidence to challenge conventions and both make and break the systems which are still a fundamental aspect of our work.




What lessons has your work life taught you?
That good work takes time to develop and that it is not always the time actively working on the project that leads to the true epiphanies. When preparing a timeplan for a project, we always try to structure it so that there is time for stepping away from it to work on something else for a while. Very often, breakthroughs will come when doing something completely different.




What percentage of your time is spent doing what?
Since 2014, we also run the publishing imprint LL’EDITONS, and while the client based work for Lundgren+Lindqvist still takes up the lion’s share of my time, the publishing activities demand an increasing amount of time. Running a studio also means giving up some of the time spent on design related work in favor of administrative tasks, which has taken some time to get used to.

Roughly, my time is divided as follows:

Design related work: 50%

Administrative tasks: 25%

LL’EDITIONS: 25%




What do you like and not like about working in this industry?
I enjoy that we, as designers, constantly get to interact with people within other contexts and disciplines. This allows us to continuously grow, both as designers and as human beings.
I am less enthused by the fact that we are, to varying extents, supporting a system which is draining the planet’s resources, ultimately leading to an inevitable collapse of our civilization and the planet we inhabit.




What skills do you think are most important for a designer in this field?
Not really a skill per se, but I would argue that integrity is a very important characteristic for a designer working today. I also think that it is paramount to have the ability to combine elements, ready-made or created for the purpose, to create compelling narratives.




What are you working on at the moment?
Amongst other things, we are working on a new website for Scandinavia's leading auction house, five new publications for LL’EDITONS, a visual identity for a Michelin star restaurant and a book with/for photographer Erik Gustafsson.




Where else can we find you?
lundgrenlindqvist.se
instagram.com/lundgrenlindqvist
lleditions.se
instagram.com/lleditions