The Journal
Portofino Summerscapes
Shipping and delivery conditions
FIND OUT HOW ISSET STUDIO, LED BY JULIA HAUGLAND AND LAURA VEICHERTS, BROUGHT PORTOFINO’S ELEGANCE TO LIFE FOR IWC’S SUMMER CAMPAIGN
It all started with a PowerPoint presentation a few years ago. Julia Haugland knew that her friend Laura Veicherts’ architecture and spatial transformation skills would perfectly complement her expertise in experience design, table settings and process facilitation. Julia chased down her longtime friend with a slide deck of eight reasons to team up. And the rest is history.
Now the duo based in Denmark runs ISSET Studio, a small company specializing in spatial transformations, table settings and experience design for ceremonies and corporate events. Their mission is to craft unforgettable experiences that people talk about for days, weeks and even months.
For this year’s Portofino summer campaign, we asked ISSET to capture the essence of our classically elegant watches – one table setting at a time. To learn more about their project with IWC, the Journal sat down with founder Julia Haugland.
— Embrace the joy of living at a garden lunch, one of four Portofino settings by ISSET Studio
— The Portofino Chronograph 39 IW391405 (top) and Portofino Automatic 34 IW357415 (bottom)
LITTLE FUN DETAILS
How did you approach the Portofino project?
We started by looking at what Portofino and IWC represent. In IWC we saw craftsmanship and a connection between heritage, beauty and history. And Portofino is all about having wonderful moments, either with others or by yourself. It’s about giving yourself or someone else a beautiful gift. All of this tied together really well.
Then we thought about how to showcase that aspect. We wanted to design four different settings, each representing a Portofino mood. So, we designed four different visual identities for each location , and considered typography, visual identity and the type of décor that would embody Portofino in each of them. When creating the different identities, we collaborated with our favorite graphic designer Hilda Holmdahl, who has a great knowledge about colors and fonts.
Which was your favorite setting to work on?
Oh, it’s hard to choose because I enjoyed the different types of moods of each location. I really liked the cafe scene in its simplicity and the textures we worked with. We had a marble tabletop with a very classic Italian feel, and we got to play with a newspaper. We wanted to make that scene a moment for yourself.
I was imagining: If you walked around Portofino - or any other city - all day, and you sat down to have that moment just for yourself, how would you want to be taken care of? What would you indulge in, a good book or a newspaper? So we came up with the idea of this newspaper, “Portofino Times,” that you would read on wicker chairs because they give you that southern European vacation feeling.
I remembered that whenever I had a very enjoyable coffee experience, it was served on the little tray. It just feels very special. You get a little tray with a little spoon and a little sugar bag and a little coffee. We added a stack of postcards to create a sense of connection with somebody. So it’s all about those little fun elements.
— The Portofino Complete Calendar IW359002 with 18 ct 5N gold case and IWC-manufactured 32150 caliber displaying the day of the week, date, month, and moon phase
ISSET’s table setting for a relaxed coffee break with the “Portofino Times”
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Portofino Complete Calendar Ref. IW359002 with 18 ct 5N gold case and Taupe calfskin strap
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Time to wind down: Bar setting details and props
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The Portofino Automatic 34 Ref. IW357413 features a stainless steel bracelet with quick-change system
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Time for two: Special moment with a special someone.
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Portofino Perpetual Calendar Ref. IW344602 with an 18 ct 5N gold case, Silver dial and blue calfskin strap
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— The Portofino Automatic 37 IW658603 (left) and Portofino Perpetual Calendar IW344602 (right)
LEAVING ROOM FOR INTERPRETATION
What about the dinner setting?
We wanted to create a special moment between two people. I imagined that one person had invited the other to share a special moment on a terrace just before sunset during the golden hour. You can imagine the beautiful view they are enjoying while having this meal. A leather menu cover with engraving added to this classic romantic feel with a little bit of modernity.
Very different from the garden lunch scene where we imagined a group of friends meeting after a long time. You don’t see a lot of people, but at some point, you see shadows. I had this specific idea of who they are in my head. But I think there is still room for interpretation.
Nothing seems to be left to chance in your settings...
Every detail is thought out. It’s something we can’t not do. It’s kind of a curse when you’re in this business. Even though the viewer may experience it for 15 seconds, we spent about 15 hours thinking about it. But it makes for a better overall experience and a great campaign. I’m excited to see it come to life and see how it’s received by the audience.
— A taste of summer with the Portofino Automatic 34 IW357415
— Portofino is a lifestyle that can be expressed anywhere. What’s your Portofino?
— The Portofino Chronograph 39 IW391405 in stainless steel comes with a green dial and green alligator leather strap
PLAYFULLY SURPRISING
Popcorn towers, oyster fountains, fluff dream wardrobes – your creativity seems boundless. Where do you get your inspiration?
So much inspiration is specific to a project, but I will say we really love to add playfulness and something unexpected. When we do events, we try to think about the entire experience as a design. From the moment you receive the invitation to the moment you step through the door to the experience itself. We ask ourselves, how can we design elements that surprise, make you laugh or shake you a bit out of what you’re expecting?
How and where did the table setting idea start?
I had been setting tables and arranging dinner parties for a while. I’d known Laura for a long time. We weren’t very close but I knew she was very talented. Her background is architecture, engineering and fashion shows. I was super into experience design through process facilitation, set-design and table setting, and knew that our competences would complement each other really well. At some point, I just started hunting her down because I knew she was so talented. I made a slide deck of eight different points listing why we should work together. She thought I was a little crazy, but it worked. We just enjoyed playing off each other’s expertise and ended up imagining much better solutions as a team.
— Happy Hour with the Portofino Perpetual Calendar featuring a silver dial, blue calfskin strap and stainless steel case
— ISSET Studio co-founders, Julia Haugland (left) and Laura Veicherts (right)
MEMORIES OF AN EXPERIENCE
What’s experience design as opposed to regular design?
It’s about all the components, every part of an experience: the anticipation, the event itself, and the lasting memories. It’s not just about something being aesthetically pleasing. It’s about how you are reminded of an experience. We want people to be amazed and engage in conversations.
We always try to think about elements of engagement and conversation starters. For one corporate event, we created graphic tablecloths with pictures from around the world and short, engaging questions. At another event, we invited people to write a postcard to their future selves about their upcoming plans. They threw it in a custom-made mailbox and received it six months later, reminding them of that moment.
What’s the craziest project you have worked on?
We always laugh because every project we do ends up being a little crazy. And the way we know it’s crazy is when we look inside the big van we drive around before our events. One time, we had a life-sized plastic horse in the van. For another event, we had 300 kilos of sand and 130 lamb skins. Something strange gets packed into our van for every event. [laughs]
Thank you for chatting with us, Julia.
ISSET originated from the phrase “The table is set,” reflecting the idea of creating spaces where everything is prepared for the host to enjoy stress-free. Expanding into set and experience design, the name evolved to capture the essence of perfectly curated moments—“The mood ISSET,” "The scene ISSET.” Julia says she started ISSET because she “wanted to do physical projects and get more away from the screen.”
Learn more about ISSET Studio here.
