Y NAME IS BÅRD EDLUND. I'm a multidisciplinary artist living and working in New York City. By day, I'm an Art Director at a media giant. By night, I'm a digital painter of figurative geometric abstraction, an animator who created the short film Gone, as well as the comedy series Monkey Talks, and a recording artist and songwriter with more than 100 songs on the repertoire – a couple of which have been used in popular shows on MTV, Bravo, Comedy Central and Telemundo. Additionally, I enjoy photography, poetry, and of course design in various flavors, including fiddling with this site. It's been online in one form or another since 1995. You can get updates by following me on Twitter.

My design work has been featured on the sites of Entertainment Weekly, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, Popular Science, Jezebel, Gawker, Launch, GOOD Magazine, Fast Company, FlowingData, Infosthetics, Andrew Sullivan's The Dish at The Daily Beast, CNN, The Awl, The Hollywood Reporter, Cinema Blend, Swiss Miss, kottke.org as well as Coudal Partners' Fresh Signals.

I was born and raised in Oslo, Norway, but moved to the U.S. upon acceptance to the Maryland Institute College of Art – one of the highest-ranked art schools in the country, from which I graduated with honors, ill-fitting clothes, and a BFA in illustration. I did artwork for publications ranging from Texas Monthly to YM Magazine, and have been thinking lately about getting back into that game.

I believe that design is not just about giving form. Design is content. I like tea and diners and slow-paced films. I'm drawn to melancholy and meaning, structure and insistence. I'm a fan of TED videos and Vincent Moon's concerts à emporter. I like Priit Pärn, Catherine Breillat, Bent Hamer, Christoph Niemann, Chris Ware, Miranda July, This American Life, Radiolab, unexplained street art, unapologetic glamour, and Paul Klee. I like Mark Eitzel and Leonard Cohen, and I have a cactus on my desk.

You can reach me at

FAQ

Can I hire you to make a visualization/infographic?

Quite possibly, depending on your needs, budget, and relative awesomeness.

Are you available for freelance web design projects?

Probably not, unless it's something unbelievably awesome.

What about motion graphics/animation projects?

Sure, let's talk. Email me.

Would you consider joining our company full-time?

I have a job already – if you think I'd prefer the one you're offering, I'm always open to talking.

What software do you use to make your images? Or are they real paintings?

They start as 3D models and end up as flat renderings that are then painted over in Photoshop and Painter using a Wacom tablet. For the 3D stage, I've used a few different packages – most recently Rhino and Animation Master. But none of that matters much. Great stuff can be made with virtually any tool.

Your old site used to have more images. Will you bring those back?

I used to showcase more images, some comics, photo series, and so on. When redesigning, I really wanted to edit things down. It felt like a healthy house-cleaning sort of thing. But, I expect to add more work in the future. Hopefully it will be more new than old stuff though!

Can I buy prints of your work? What about CDs of your music?

I recently opened an Etsy store where you can buy some of my visual art. I don't sell CDs of my songs.

How do I license your music for my film/game/app/show?

You can either speak to me directly or look up songs by edlundart on JinglePunks.

Are your songs recorded with a band? Who sings on them?

I play all the instruments (except where noted) and sing.

What's your linking policy?

You can link to any of my pages, no problem – and thank you! I don't do link exchanges.