Novice climber finds Norvana

Some graphic designers never switch off. Identica’s Craig Cook and two freelances, Paul Endersby and Mark Thrush, were travelling in the Arctic circle of Eastern Greenland this summer.

This is previously uncharted territory. Its glaciers and summits were virgin, the nearest habitation 200km to the south and communication limited to VHF radios with a range of some five miles.

Our boys spent 16 hours ascending a 3000m-high mountain. Which needed a name. And a design brief flooded Craig’s memory.

“I had recently created the new brand name, identity and literature for Finnair’s worldwide travel agency, Norvista,” he explains. “The brief required a name which represented a serene land with a sense of adventure.”

Hence Norvista. Which seemed to apply to the mountain.”For once as a designer I felt happy to be able to mix business with pleasure,” says Craig.

Luckily, he didn’t think Johnnie Walker or Sellotape were appropriate – both are Identica clients.