My first year at Ueno in Reykjavík
The story of an Italian designer who, despite loving sun and beaches, found himself moving to Iceland for work and adventure
How to move to Iceland
When you move to Iceland, the first thing you need is a roof over your head. Finding an apartment in Reykjavík can be surprisingly difficult. I’ve found that Icelanders are kind of like the Italians of the north, with the mindset of “I have a cousin that has a friend that can help you.” That’s how it worked for me: friends of colleagues found me an apartment.
Then, the day before your departure to Iceland, go to the IKEA website and write down a list with all the things you need — basically everything. Also, rent a car. If your plane lands in Iceland two hours before IKEA closes, you’ll have time to buy almost everything on your list, and you won’t have to sleep on the floor of your rented apartment on your first night in Reykjavík.
At least that’s how I did it.
Joining Ueno
I first heard about Ueno in 2013, when I was working as a freelance designer in Italy. Today it’s a fast growing agency with a bunch of people and offices in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles and Reykjavík, but at the time it was basically a bearded Icelandic guy working with a group of independent freelancers and agencies, doing cool things like the Google Santa Tracker. I was really fascinated about the quantity and quality of work that was coming from that really small country.
For almost all of my ten year career I’ve worked independently. I was happy with my freedom, and I never really thought I’d be working for an agency again. And since I love hot weather and beaches, I definitely never thought I’d end up in Iceland.
Fast forward three years, Ueno offers me a job, and I find myself at Ueno’s Reykjavík office.
Adventure!
When I told my friends I was moving to Iceland they would usually say something like “I could never do that, I hate being cold!” But for me it was more “It’s not cold, it’s cool! Let’s do this crazy thing. I can’t miss this chance that only a few people will have.”
I have always seen Iceland as an exotic place, and honestly I was intrigued with the idea of being part of an elite of 334,252 inhabitants who had the privilege of living and exploring this mythical place. There is a huge difference between living in Iceland and visiting it for a couple of weeks.
One of my main worries was to find something to do in my free time, but as soon as I arrived my schedule was already packed with stuff. Even if Reykjavik is small, with around a hundred thousand people, it’s still a capital city with everything that goes with it. Restaurants are great, bars are packed and open until late. And if you need to get away for a few days, it’s only three and a half hours from Berlin, and five hours from New York.
But for me the big thing about living in Iceland is exploring the country. One of my favorite things to do is to take the car and travel around. I’m not really an hiking person but I really love traveling and taking photos, and Iceland is definitely the perfect country to do that. Waterfalls, mountains, volcanoes, glaciers, lakes, beaches, lava fields, caves — there is a long list of things to do.
We are two foreign guys in the Icelandic office right now, me and Jeremy, and when we’re not at work we usually travel around the country and take photos. Do you want to know what we visited last weekend? Here is my Instagram and Jeremy’s.
Good people
Speaking of colleagues. After working in design for more than ten years — from intern to creative director, doing all kinds of projects for all kinds of clients, from fashion to aerospace, startups to multinationals — I’ve come to realize something. It’s not about the famous brand you’re working on or how fancy your portfolio is. It’s the environment and the people around you that make the difference. That’s what allows you to grow, live a happy life and at the same time help you to create your best work. Because, you know, it’s a team effort. That’s why Ueno was the best choice for me — a small agency with great ambitions, where you work in harmony with people who are your friends before they’re your colleagues, and where you have your own creative independence and responsibility.
There are 15 of us in the Reykjavík team. We’re a pretty close bunch, used to hanging out together. We have lunch together everyday and talk about everything but work. That’s what happens when your coworkers become your friends. We have breakfast at the office every Friday, happy hour almost every week, PlayStation (usually Rocket League) after lunch. And once or twice a week some of us go bouldering.
So, it’s not all about work.
Yes, let’s talk about the weather
It’s called Iceland for a reason. But Icelandic weather is not that bad as people may think. Thanks to the Gulf Stream, winters are not too cold. The average temperature is around 0°C (32°F), with only a few days a year where it goes down to -10°C (14°F).
Around the winter solstice we only have a few hours of daylight, but for almost three months in summer we have midnight sun. This is something you need to get used to. At first you’ll probably lose the sense of time, but I found it very fascinating. During summer, the continuous daylight gives you a real boost of energy.
In short
My first year in Iceland has been amazing. Not just as a great new work adventure, but a really life changing experience. Even if you don’t end up moving here like I did, I really suggest you to come and visit. Iceland is a stunning and unique place.
Let me know if you do. Ping me on Twitter or send me an email at marco@ueno.co. Maybe I can give you some travel tips and local suggestions.
And if you’d be interested in going all the way and moving here, we’re always looking for good designers and developers. Check out our open positions in Reykjavík.
