The thing you need to know before coming to Estonia is this: they are not the most outgoing bunch, these Estonians. A tiny little detail that I just couldn’t wrap my head around when I first got here and one that I tend to ignore like a pro nowadays. After all, overwhelming them with all my joy and love was how I got most of my Estonian friends. The fact that it took quite some time to convince them that I am not a crazy person, on the other hand, is also something I like to ignore like a pro.

So you can imagine how weirded out Krõõt Kukkur, the funniest Estonian illustrator and designer I have met so far, was, when I found her booth at a design market and got a little too excited about her products. After our Papetri Paperworks post I’m sure all of you know that Lena and I take our designer hunts seriously. And that we can get a bit overjoyed when we find something we really like. Well, Krõõt didn’t know that. All she knew was that a random girl asked her out for coffee to talk some more about her designs after coming back to her booth a billion times and touching her amazing backpacks twice as much. Amazingly enough, she agreed to meet up with me anyways, once again proving that my approach of just overwhelming them with emotions can work sometimes.

Picture: coucou.ee

Speaking of overwhelming situations, I’ve spent the last two hours trying to figure out how to fit everything there is to say about the girl with the thick black stripe tattooed around her arm into one blogpost. Because to be honest, I wish I could just put our whole hilarious conversation up on here. During our one hour long chat a couple of things happened: 1) the sun was shining – worth mentioning because this doesn’t happen that often in Estonia. 2) I couldn’t stop laughing about her funny comments on her own life. 3) Turns out that Krõõt has the most random things to tell about herself. Exactly my kind of person. 

She carries a board game with her wherever she goes. Quit art school due to a lack of interest in perfectly parallel lines. Doesn’t consider herself a crazy cat lady but is scared of her own cats’ – who sometimes think they are dogs – anger. Loves making people uncomfortable with her postcard collection of road kills. Has the most amazing bike. Doesn’t only design backpacks and illustrates whatever she can – from beerbottles to CD-covers – but is also working on a career in the tattoo industry. (I’ve got a feeling I need to support that…) And she doesn’t care about marketing and promoting her products. She just creates. I think that’s my favorite thing about her. And that she made me feel better about being lazy sometimes. Apparently this happens to the best of us.

Picture: coucou.ee

But speaking of Krõõt’s creations: let’s “briefly” talk about why I got so excited when I found her booth. First of all, her illustrations are super cool. I know, that is probably the worst description you’ve ever heard. But in lack of the right art vocabulary, this is what you have to deal with for now. I’ll work on it. In any case, I’ll just give you a list of my favorite things in her collection:

That was the longest and most rambling post I have written in a long time. I hope you got a glimpse of the awesome person behind the name Krõõt Kukkur. If you ever want to meet her, she works in one of Tallinn’s best restaurants. Not going to tell you which one, though. You’ll have to find out yourself. Or hit the next design market. Or check out her homepage or instagram and contact her on there. Don’t forget: Overwhelming them with emotions works best!

Have a lovely Monday, everybody!

xx Kathi