THE NAME
Although the concept of the site has in development for years, the inspiration for the name came during my year in Sweden 2015/16. I moved into a kollektiv, which basically means shared housing, and although I'd lived in other shared houses/flats previously in The UK and Italy - the Swedish model is somewhat different to other co-living spaces. A Swedish kollektiv is more like a family unit, portrayed well in Lukas Moodysson's film Tillsammans . There were 13 diverse members of our kollektive, which was called KOLLEKTIVET LIVET, The Life Collective. We lived together in a big red house, the underlying philosophy being that all ideas and views were welcome but must not be forced upon anyone. Our intimate community revolved around mutual respect.
Yes, alright - So I stole the kollektiv's name. However this in itself outInes one of the key philosophies of lifekollektiv - RECYCLING IS GOOD, and natural. As with arts and technology, we take an existing idea and develop it. It is our reinterpretation and application of our own personal experiences and perspectives which form the cornerstone of evolution and ultimately, a progressive society.
In the case of lifekollektiv, the content represents a collection of recorded moments, observations and personal experiences from my life. In terms of people, as with any art collective, it represents a group of creative minds coming together to formulate ideas. Finally, the mix of two languages in the name emphasises the unity of different cultures, to form one body. Got all that? OK, lets move into..
LIFEKOLLEKTIV
THE LOGO
The objective was to create a universally recognisable symbol which could both represent lifekollektiv and act as a shape to use in creative works. For textiles it would be the basis for a pattern designs, for video it would create a frame into different scenes, and for animation - a means to showcase fresh ideas by arriving to this form. The logo becomes useful and recognisable through it's functional value.
I am a firm believer in simple, honest, design. As my old design chief would tell me, always try and take material off, boil the concept down to the minimum, to it's raw elements.
The letters L&K were used as a starting point (known as a logotype) for these doodles of the logo and website, dated Autumn 2016. By playing with the interaction of these two letters, symbols in themselves, a simple shape emerged. An equalateral triangle rotated sideways, much like a play button. This is divided in half, with right side rotated 45degrees.
The two elements of the logo, born from the letters L+K [Life-Kollektiv], then meet each other centrally, pivoting delicately and enforcing the philosophy of connection and harmony.
