Good morning.
I’m Espen Brunborg, an independent digital designer who also knows how to code, write, and present.
View my workI'm currently working three days a week with Hava Media on Phlinx, Releases, and DailyBits. The rest of my time I am available for hire. Recent clients include Smashing Magazine , Oslo Municipality, and VitusApotek (Lloyds Pharmacy, but in Norway). I sometimes talk about design at conferences around the world.
Before this, I managed the design team at Redink (now HyperRedink), where I worked with clients like Santander, DNB, Oslo Municipality, and Elkjøp.
Before that, I co-founded and worked as creative director at Primate, where we did projects for clients like Airbnb, Waterstons, Scottish Book Trust, and Bulbapedia.
Before that, I designed websites for Heehaw Digital, where I first started working with pixels and at some point made a photoshop action to create 1px rounded corners on my bitmap shapes. What a timesaver!
Before that, I had a brief stint at Taste Design, where I forgot what I learned at my preceding job and subsequently got fired. Ouch.
Before that, I designed magazines for White Light Media, where I learned that caring about what you do and putting in the hours is the only way to do decent work.
Before that, I studied graphic design at Falmouth University, where they told us that ideas and concepts are more important to learn than implementation. I still believe they were right.
Before that, I studied graphic design in Oslo. We weren't allowed to use computers, so I learned how to sketch with pencils and marker pens. I once drew the cover for an imaginary book called "Plastic Fantastic", because dildos were easy to draw realistically.
Before that, I served 11 months national service in the north of Norway. I hated every minute of it, but I learned to cope with weather and boredom and I'm glad to have had the experience.
Before that, I did arts and crafts at the local high school. For my final exam I spent five days painting a mural for a train station. (On paper, not actually in a train station.)
Before that, I went to secondary school. One day we had a guest lecturer from the advertising industry, who sold me on a career in the creative industry.
Before that, primary school. I drew fake tattoos of guns and roses on my friends' arms because, well, Guns N' Roses.
Before that, at the age of two, I spent a year in Japan because of my dad's work. My earliest memory is sucking on a giant twirly lollipop at Disneyland Tokyo.
Before that, I was born in Drammen, Norway.
Before that, my parents met at Club 7, Oslo.
Before that, in 1905, Norway voted to dissolve its union with Sweden, by 368208 votes to 184.
Before that, more than half of Norway's population was wiped out by the Black Death between the years 1348 and 1350.
Before that, in 1030, King Olav Haraldsson was killed in the battle of Stiklestad. A brutal opportunist, he helped kidnap and murder the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1011. Three years later he fought alongside King Æthelred The Unready to defend England against the invading forces of the Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark and his son Cnut (soon to be Cnut the Great). In 1015, however, he changed sides again, and helped Cnut conquer Wessex, before returning to Norway and declaring himself King.
Once King, legend has it Olav introduced – likely with the help of death threats – his fellow Norsemen to Christianity, to which he had converted during his many "holidays" to Europe (being Christian may have been a prerequisite to make alliances with the European elites).
Later on, Olav teamed up with the king of Sweden to conquer his former ally Denmark, but was forced to hide in the Swedish fjords, before being defeated in the battle of Helgeå and chased back to Norway on foot. In 1928, as a consequence of his failed invasion, Norway was in turn invaded by – you guessed it – Cnut the fucking Great, and Olav finally met his fate. After his death, he was named a saint and he became known as Olav the Holy, allegedly because his nails, hair and beard continued to grow posthumously.
(Ish.)
Game of Thrones can take a hike.
Before that, you know, dinosaurs and stuff.
Before that? Darkness, I suppose.
And before that? How should I know?