We All Need Heroes

ARIMUS

Chapter: Clever Business

Oskar Pernefeldt, a 21-year-old Swede, really wanted to study at the programme Visual Communications at Beckmans College of Design in Stockholm. He wanted this so badly that he spent seven months creating the fictional country Arimus. To be accepted as a student at Beckmans, every attendee has to create and submit a piece of artwork as an admission test. The theme for the test is different every year and a jury decides which people are accepted and which are not. In the test, there’s always an assignment called “Extra”, which allows the attendee to submit some optional work he or she has created. It was especially in this field Oskar’s work stood out from the rest. Instead of submitting a logotype, painting or poster; He created the republic of Arimus.
        Arimus is an island located outside Micronesia. It officially has 12,283 inhabitants, all named Oskar Pernefeldt. Arimus is Latin for intellect. Two British scientists found the country and decided to create a country based on wisdom and knowledge. Since much around us is graphic design; creating a country is to create loads of graphic elements for many different areas. Oskar began his work by designing a flag, coat of arms, currency, newspaper, universities, companies with graphical profiles and a military (army, navy, air force).
            While working full time as a studio assistant at an advertising agency, Oskar was working night time with the creation of Arimus. As he was studying an evening course at Beckmans, Oskar could infiltrate and research the kind of information he needed to turn his admission test into perfection. Through friends he found out which people were in the jury (which is almost a secret), and suddenly the republic of Arimus started to contact the members in different ways. The first letter looked like it was sent from one of the country’s universities. The fake principal explained that they had recently started up a graphic design program and asked Beckmans if they wanted to begin an exchange program with them. Oskar went so far that he designed his own postal stamps and a stamp saying “Arimus postal service”, making the envelope look like it had been posted from overseas. The letter was then sneaked inside the school. The next letter for another member of the jury was “sent” from the country’s bank, asking if he wanted to be an unofficial ambassador of the Arimus Bank in the Swedish art world. The letter offered bribes like flight tickets, appliances and pets. The third letter was a parking ticket, asking the jury member to pay 40 Arimusan pounds for improper parking of his Toyota Corolla. The last letter from Arimus Intelligence Service was sent to the youngest member of the jury, asking if he wanted to be the official contact for Scandinavia.
          In the next step, Oskar took help from a friend to create a website for the Government of Arimus. Oskar then faked press releases, speeches, factual texts and statistics – all in bureaucratic English. He even got a friend to compose a national anthem for the country. After hours of work Oskar could finally purchase the internet domain. This opened new doors of possibilities. He could give all the politicians displayed on the website their own email addresses. Instead of spending time faking letters, he could now run the country from his bedroom. Acting as the top politicians of the country, Oskar sent emails explaining their displeasure that Beckmans had not replied to one single letter – calling it a political and diplomatic insult. In one email, the Vice President of Arimus writes that his son is interested in studying at Beckmans, and explains in a harsh tone that it would be most unfortunate if the countries relationship would be hurt by denying him access to the school.
           Oskar also wanted the jury to encounter Arimus in different situations in their everyday lives. He created posters of a desperate and creepy exchange student from Arimus, who was looking for a place to live. The posters were put up in many different locations in Stockholm and at Beckmans. Even the man working at the cafeteria at the school got involved in Oskar’s project. He collects snow globes from all around the world, and they are all displayed at the desk of the cafeteria. Oskar decided to create one for Arimus as well – which is now part of the collection.
          Oskar figured the jury probably had seen some really creative stuff in the past, so he went public with his project to increase his odds. Using guerrilla marketing he reached out to newspapers, blogs etc. The feedback was huge. Not surprisingly, Oskar Pernefeldt was accepted at Beckmans and he decided to study instead of accepting one of the several job offers he received from the Swedish PR agency elite.

Possible Moral
A story that shows that overkilling can be an important method into making a career. Doing that little extra (in this case, a lot extra) can get you ahead in the game. This way of thinking can be applied both in the world of studying and in the world of business.

Story from We All Need Heroes: Stories of the Brave and Foolish.
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