Welcome to a new series of interviews introducing the faces behind VEMU’s (Estonian Museum Canada) rebranding process and those who have helped contribute to it! In this first interview, we spoke with creative director Kristian Kirsfeldt of renowned Estonian design agency Velvet, who along with co-worker Nele Volbrück and their team created VEMU’s new striking visual identity. Read on to find out more about the stories behind the museum’s new brand and to hear more about Kristian himself!
Kristian can be seen and heard speaking as the keynote speaker at VEMU’s 10th annual fundraising night on May 14th. VEMU’s planned new permanent exhibit, which has been worked on in collaboration with Velvet, will also be a topic of discussion at the fundraiser. Register at https://estoniancentre.app.neo... or by calling 416.925.9405. See you there and stayed tuned for the next interview coming up soon! If you’re interested in knowing more about the design aspects of VEMU’s rebrand and the stories behind them, check out a seminar on that here:
VEMU: What was the experience like of creating a brand for an organization that is not local to you, literally across the world? What was it like trying to gauge the sense of community and all that comes along with it without being able to be on the spot and experience it?
Kristian Kirsfeldt (KK): There are two different parts that factor into not being local; first is the physical distance that is quite easily overcome nowadays since we’re used to Zoom meetings and working remotely. The second aspect is the cultural difference or cultural distance. There is a distance between Estonians in the home country and abroad but at the same time, there are also a lot of similarities because we do share the same culture, the same language, etc. I think that’s even more-so true of Estonians and Canadians since we have a lot in common. I think talking about [cultural differences] openly and just spending physical time with people, although it’s “virtual”, and being able to see these people involved; that’s something that really helps close the distance. In the end, I don’t think [the distance] was that big of an issue but we did have a few revelations along the way; it was really interesting to see the “Estonian-ness” in Estonians who live abroad. There are some interesting aspects which we really didn’t expect beforehand and I really got to see the experience of being an Estonian from a slightly different angle.
(Pikemalt saab lugeda Eesti Elu 6. mai 2022 paber- ja PDF/digilehest)