Computer Arts - UK (2019-08)

COMPUTERARTS.CREATIVEBLOQ.COM

A

fter meeting through a mutual

friend in the late 1990s, Jon Forss

and Kjell Ekhorn set up Non-

Format in 2000. The studio has since

partnered with larger Norwegian firm,

ANTI, and worked with clients including

Adobe, Sony Music, Nike and Penguin.

But throughout all this, Forss and Ekhorn

have been 4,000 miles apart – Ekhorn

lives in Oslo, Norway, while Forss is based

in Minnesota, US. So how do they make

their business work?

Make sure that your skills complement

each other

The best collaborators don’t just have

complementary skillsets, they also bring

out the best in each other. “Jon makes me

better – it’s as simple as that really,” says

Kjell Ekhorn. “I tend to get tired of my

own head and visual expressions, so having

Jon there to mix and remix projects with

is a blessing.”

Jon Forss also appreciates having

someone else to bounce ideas off. “Kjell

is very good at seeing the bigger picture.

While I tend to get bogged down with

details, or get crippled with indecision,

he’s able to see things from a more holistic

perspective and can quickly steer a project

towards a much better outcome,” he says.

Other complementary skills include

Forss’ “acute attention to detail” –

particularly when it comes to words,

something which Ekhorn says many

clients are grateful for, and Ekhorn’s ability

SPECIAL REPORT

JONFORSS

CO-FOUNDERNON-FORMAT

Jon Forss founded Non-Format with Norwegian

designer Kjell Ekhorn in 2000. In 2007, Forss

emigrated to the US and continues to work with

Ekhorn from his home studio in the city of Saint

Paul, Minnesota.

KJELLEKHORN

CO-FOUNDERNON-FORMAT

Norwegian-born Kjell Ekhorn founded the design

firm Non-Format with British designer Jon Forss in

2000. In 2009, following Forss’s departure to the
      US, Ekhorn relocated to Oslo, Norway. In 2015, Non-
      Format partnered with the design firm ANTI in Oslo.

Jon Forss (top) and Kjell

Ekhorn (bottom) work

together, despite being

4,000 miles apart.

to decipher client emails. “If there’s any

ambiguous phrasing, nine times out of ten

he’ll be able to infer exactly what the writer

has in mind. Maybe it’s because English

is his second language that he tends

to absorb it differently. It’s a kind of

witchcraft,” says Forss.

Use a time difference to your advantage

“We tend to either tag-team a project,

or divide up the tasks,” explains Forss.

“Some projects require certain skills that

one or other of us tends to prefer or is

more suited to.”

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