BIO
Theodora Alfredsdottir is an Icelandic product designer based in London.
With roots in Iceland, a community with a population of 380.000, but living amongst 9.000.000 others in London, one of the most vibrant cities in the world, Theodora’s work aims to look at the individual within the mass.
She believes that good design is a window into the process of creating objects, in order to give the user a better understanding of what goes into bringing an object into this world, to encourage responsible consumption. The object therefore acts as a documentation of its manufacturing process; a record of what went on between the machine, tools, craftsman and material. Each and every product is a three-dimensional collage using shapes from Theodora’s collection of compositions made up of geometric shapes.
Theodora holds a bachelor’s degree in product design from the Iceland University of the Arts (2012) and a master’s degree in Design Products from the Royal College of Art in London (2015). After a few years of working for Philippe Malouin and Bethan Laura Wood, Theodora set up her own studio. Collaborations are a big part of Theodora’s work and practice, both with other designers/makers as well as companies and brands. Alongside her self-initiated and commissioned work Theodora has been a Visiting Tutor at the Iceland University of the Arts since 2016, an Associate Lecturer at the London Metropolitan University 2019-2022, and is currently an Associate Lecturer at Goldsmiths University in London.
Favourite Features
Education
2013 - 2015 Royal College of Art, MA Design Products
2009 - 2012 Iceland Academy of the Arts, BA Product design
Exhibitions
2023 - ‘The Farm Shop’, Fels, London Design Festival, London, UK
2023 - ‘Together’, Home Team Gallery, Seattle, USA
2023 - ‘Together’, Ásmundarsalur, DesignMarch, Icelandic Design Week, Reykjavik, Iceland
2022 - ‘In the direction of colours’, Fels, Staffordshire Street Studios, London, UK
2022 - ‘Hæ/Hi’, Bianco Gallery, Seattle, USA
2022 - ‘Mirrors’, Mikado, DesignMarch, Icelandic Design Week, Reykjavik, Iceland - SOLO SHOW
2022 - ‘FÓLK’, collaboration with FÓLK, DesignMarch, Icelandic Design Week, Reykjavik, Iceland
2022 - ‘Hæ/Hi’, Stak, DesignMarch, Icelandic Design Week, Reykjavik, Iceland
2021 - ‘Gilda Editions’, Alcova, Milan Design Week, Milan, Italy
2021 - ‘Corrugation Lights’, Ásmundarsalur, DesignMarch, Icelandic Design Week, Reykjavik, Iceland
2021 - ‘FÓLK’, collaboration with FÓLK, DesignMarch, Icelandic Design Week, Reykjavik, Iceland
2020 - ‘Kindness’, Sook Spaces, Mayfair, London, UK
2020 - ‘Shifting Occupancy’, Bates smart gallery, Melbourne Design Week, Australia
2019 - ‘Corrugation Lights’, 19 Greek Street, London Design Festival, Soho, London, UK
2019 - ‘Mould - Ceramic side tables’, 19 Greek Street, London Design Festival, Soho, London, UK
2019 - ‘Crossover’ curated by Adorno, Truman Brewery, London Design Festival, London, UK
2019 - ‘Formex Nova’ Formex, Stockholm, Sweden
2019 - ‘Formex Nova’ Nordic house, DesignMarch, Reykjavik, Iceland
2019 - ‘Mould - experiments’ Geysir Heima, DesignMarch, Reykjavik, Iceland - SOLO SHOW
2019 - ‘FÓLK’, collaboration with FÓLK, DesignMarch, Reykjavik, Iceland
2018 - ‘Mould - experiments’, SKEKK design gallery, Reykjavik, Iceland - SOLO SHOW
2018 - ‘Horror Show’, London Design Festival, London, UK
2018 - ‘Why Materials Matter’, Ma-tt-er, London Design Festival, London, UK
2018 - 'Mould', Geysir heima, DesignMarch, Reykjavik, Iceland
2018 - 'Work in progress', with 54°Celsius, Rammagerðin, DesignMarch, Reykjavik, Iceland
2017 - 'Luminates', Mint, London Design Festival, London, UK
2017 - 'Hungry for design', Miland design week, Milano, Italy
2016 - 'Experiment - Clay and more', Hafnarborg museum, Hafnarfjörður, Iceland
2016 - 'Úr ólíkum áttum', Sýrusson, Reykajvík, Iceland
2016 - 'EldhúsMars', Hrím eldhús, DesignMarch, Reykjavík, Iceland
2015 - 'Graduated', London design festival, London, UK
2015 - Royal College of Art graduate show, London, UK
2013 - 'Homeless design', Brera, Milan design week, Milano, Italy
2012 - Graduate show of the Icelandic Academy of the Arts, Reykjavik Art Museum, Iceland
2009 - Children's sizes, Hafnarborg Art Museum, Iceland
Work
2021 - present Associate Lecturer, Goldsmiths, London
2020 - 2020 Adjunct, Product Design, the Iceland University of the Arts
2019 - 2022 Associate Lecturer, Cass, London Metropolitan University
2017 - 2021 Tutor at the Iceland University of the Arts
2020 - Final project lead, 3rd year BA students, the Iceland University of the Arts, Product Design
2017 - 2018 Freelance designer at Bethan Laura Wood & StoreyStudio
2016 -2017 Freelance designer at Philippe Malouin / POST-OFFICE
2015 - Stalla Libra / Workshop in Sedrun, Switzerland
2012 - Internship at Studio Faye Toogood, London
2012 - Internship at Boisbuchet, creative community, France (Vitra design museum)
2012 - Spark design space, Iceland
2011 - Bongóblíða, project led by Sigríður Sigurjónsdóttir, professor at the Iceland Academy of the Arts, Iceland
Talks, Workshops & awards
TALKS
2022 - Desing Diplomacy, Icelandic Design Week, The American Embassy in Iceland, Discussion
2021 - Design Transforms, Central Saint Martins, London, Talk
2021 - Getting started, The first 5 years after graduation, London Desing Festival, Panel Discussion
2020 - Dezeen ‘Screentime’ interview, part of their Virtual Design Fair. (Link)
2020 - Objects, context and connections at the Iceland University of the Arts, Talk
2019 - Making of an object, talk at Icelandic Startups
2019 - From The Ground Up, talk at DesignTalks organised by the Icelandic Design Centre for DesignMarch, the Icelandic Design Week
2018 - (December) Product design in Action, Education in action organised by The Training Partnership, Warwick Arts Centre, University of Warwick, Coventry, Talk
2018 - (November) Product design in Action, Education in action organised by The Training Partnership, The Emmanuel Centre, London, Talk
2016 - The making of an object, the Iceland University of the Arts, talk
2016 - Ceramics and my work, The Reykjavik School of Visual Arts, talk
WORKSHOPS / TEACHING
2020 - Play with clay, workshop during a residency at Villa Lena, Italy
2020 - Creative thinking, the Iceland University of the Arts, 10 weeks course for 1st year BA students, Product Design
2018 - Process, the Iceland University of the Arts, 10 weeks course for 1st year MA students, Design
2018 - Creative thinking, the Iceland University of the Arts, 10 weeks course for 1st year BA students, Product Design
2017 - Creative thinking, Ithe Iceland University of the Arts, 10 weeks course for 1st year BA students, Product Design
2016 - High tech/low tech, the Iceland University of the Arts, workshop attended by 1st year students in Product Design
AWARDS
2020 - Dezeen Award 2020, Lighting design, Longlisted (Link)
2020 - The Reykjavík Grapevine Design Awards 2020, product of the year, runner up
2019 - Formex Nova, Nordic design Awards, one of five runners up
2019 - The Reykjavík Grapevine Design Awards 2019, product line of the year, award of excellence
2017 - The Reykjavík Grapevine Design Awards 2017, product of the year, award of excellence
GRANTS
2021 - Project grant from the Icelandic Design Fund for the project Mould, Vases
2020 - Project grant from the Icelandic Design Fund to develop the project Subterranean Formation even further
2019 - Project grant from the Icelandic Design Fund for the project Mould, Industry (stackable)
2017 - Project grant from the Icelandic Design Fund for the project From The Ground Up
INTERVIEWS
2021 - Aben, Makers of the new nordic (Link)
2019 - Adorno, online gallery; Narrating the stories of our everyday objects (Link)
2019 - Ha Design Magazine; Saga á bak við alla hluti (Link)
2019 - FÓLK Reykjavík; Storytelling through objects - Factual Narrative (Link)