ViSSEVASSE is a Copenhagen design and paper studio with a great love for graphic products. Products that you can flip through, look at and write on. Behind the brand are Dorthe Mathiesen and Karsten Noel Poulsen, who for the past 20 years have worked at the crossroads between graphic design, fashion and scenography.
We have a soft spot for iconic buildings, places and objects, but we can be inspired by everything from a song to a feeling. Our style is Nordic and minimalist, with delicate pastels, poetry, nostalgia and food for thought.
At a time when we are constantly interrupted by emails, text messages, notifications and status updates, we offer an offline breathing space where one can retreat, stop, reflect and dream away.
It started with posters
We started designing posters in 2013, when Dorthe fell for the beautiful, iconic Langebro in Copenhagen. Posters can do many things. They can decorate, tell stories, make us smile and make us look an extra time. Sometimes it can take a long time to decide what you want to have hanging on your walls. Other times, you just know. Since then, our passion for graphic design has only grown, as has our product range.
International collaborations
We always have our ears and eyes open for something magical that can complement our own design universe. That is why we have chosen to collaborate with the Australian art photographer Vee Speers, who manages to create alluring motifs that are both poetic and disturbing, but also enigmatic, timeless, intense and simple. Motifs that set the mind in motion and make us look an extra time.
The term certain sharp
And then finally. What does 'certain sharp' really mean? "Vissevasse" means according to the dictionary wet, nonsense or foolish talk. However, we lean more towards the use of certain reeds as an indulgent pull-on-the-shoulders expression, which rather means "don't worry - it probably all works out". Because it usually does.
