A PUNCH
IN THE FACE

I had no idea how wild Marine Contracting was before this project. It was the grandfather of the current owner who had started the company, and even if the company had been sold, bought and went under a few times over the years - there was history in the walls.

The stories I was told as I dove into the research phase interviewing the rough and skilled workers of this company - they blew me away. Especially one story about an entire building that was moved from one part of Norway to another - on a floating barge in the middle of a november storm will be with me for the rest of my life.

These guys are used to taking on challenges on a weekly basis, taking calculated risks that the rest of us mere mortals would not even consider. Well at least not me.

The owner of the company Nils Johan Tufte is one of the most interesting CEO's I've met over the years, he had lived a some years in Texas and was as comfortable wearing a cowboy hat as a suit and tie. He was known in the community for giving people who had experienced struggle in their life a second chance - giving them a trade, a job and even a place to live some times. I asked him about this, why he hired those kinds of people - expecting that he would answer something about being compassionate - or perhaps the importance of a loyal workforce. But instead he answered that he needed tough workers that he could rely on, and he did not trust someone who had not experienced hardship first hand. He wanted people who could take a punch in the face, fall to the ground - and rise up and try again.

And I'm not sure if it was a coincidence or fate as I myself just days later got punched in the face attending a hardcore punk concert in Malmö, Sweden. I should say that it was an accident, I was up front and people were flying over my head and suddenly I was on the floor. The next day I started documenting the bruise I had gotten, and took daily photos of how the shapes and colors emerged in my face.

And that documentation and experience became the concept for this company, from the patterns to the color palette of my bruised face.