BIOGRAPHY

David Thornell Orrenvade, born September 5, 1984 in Lidköping in Västergötland, is a Swedish photographer, designer and entrepreneur. David Thornell grew up in Lidköping with his parents and his older brother. In his youth he traveled a lot with his parents to France and has spent large parts of his upbringing there. It was also where Thornell began to develop his interest in art, inspired by a variety of street artists and started with colorful graffiti paintings on walls from Paris to Marseille. Thornell studied media at De la Gardiegymnasiet in Lidköping where he focused on his photography. From graffiti paintings only photography became more interesting and after graduation he decided to start a big project, to travel and photograph every state in the USA. After some 30 trips, he has visited all 48 mainland states and plans to visit Hawaii and Alaska to complete the project.

CAREER

In 2015, David Thornell started Wallstars, which sells David Thornell's photographs and designs as posters on the internet. A special design that Thornell made is a table in text with areas from different parts of cities. The design has become very popular in Sweden and has been sold in thousands of copies around the country. It is designed in over 900 different Swedish locations. In 2016, official posters were designed for the Frölunda HC hockey team, Leksands IF, Modo hockey and for the Villa Lidköping bandy team and for the IFK Gothenburg football team. In 2017, the artist Viktor Frisk together with David Thornell designed a painting about ADHD, which was a big topic after Viktor's diagnosis. The painting became very popular and has been printed in over 3000 copies. When the American donut manufacturer Dunkin Donuts was launched in Sweden, Thornell designed paintings for all the cafes. Among other things, a large decorated wall in the Gallerian in Stockholm. In November 2018, he was a guest of Kjell Bergqvist's painting tour with 20 different works and all sales went to Bergqvist's fundraising foundation. SEK 50,000 was donated after just one day. 2018 was also the year when his social media presence grew and he passed 200 thousand followers on Instagram. In 2020, David Thornell's photographs and designs can be seen in thousands of homes and in many other places, such as restaurants, cafes, hospitals, schools, shops and clubs.

EXHIBITIONS

  • Scandic Rubinen, Göteborg.
  • Scandic Victoria Tower, Kista. 
  • Hjo Konstrum, Hjo.
  • Skrapan, Stockholm.
  • Konsthallen, Lidköping.
  • Nostalgeek, Lidköping.
  • Galleri Thornell, Lidköping.
  • Restaurang Bakgårn, Lidköping.
  • Svenska Kyrkan, New York.
  • Amandas konsthantverk, Hjo.
  • Clarion Hotel Sign, Stockholm.

 

PUBLICATIONS

After Thornell's many visits to photograph all the states in the USA, he has written reports for various magazines including Allt om resor, Riksettan and Tidningen where he reported on the best travel tips to Los Angeles, San Francisco and around the USA. For the newspaper Riksettan, he made a report together with Johan Tell about the depiction of the Lincoln Highway, where Tell wrote the text and Thornell was responsible for all the photographs. Some of the publications are below.

EXTERNAL LINKS


NEWSPAPERS

  • Sydöstran
  • Falköpings Tidning
  • Skövde Nyheter
  • Västgöta Bladet
  • Skaraborg Läns Tidning
  • Danderyds Nyheter
  • Mariefreds Tidning
  • Uppland-BroBladet
  • Sala Allehanda
  • Tranås Tidning
  • Norrbottens Kuriren
  • Jönköpings Tidning
  • Sydöstran
  • Corren
  • Borås Tidning
  • Blekinge Läns Tidning
  • Filipstads Tidning
  • KT-Kuriren
  • Gefle Dagblad
  • Värnamo Nyheter
  • Arbetarbladet
  • Nya Lidköpings-Tidningen

 

CLIENTS

  • Nordea
  • Saks Off 5th Avenue
  • Eklund Stockholm New York
  • Nordiska Kompaniet NK
  • Cervera
  • Expressen
  • Trademax
  • Dunkin Donuts
  • Clarion Hotels
  • Texas Longhorn
  • Scandic Hotels
  • Chilli
  • Önska
  • Frölunda Indians
  • IFK Göteborg
  • HSB
  • Magasin Åre
  • Royal Design
  • American Table Stockholm
  • Vagabond
  • Los Angeles International Airport
  • PricewaterhouseCoopers
  • RES
  • Mr Jet
  • Modo Hockey
  • Leksands IF
  • Villa BK
  • Viktor Frisk
  • Expressen Allt Om Resor
  • Ninjas In Pyjamas
  • Örnsköldsvik Turistbyrå
  • Gardefalk & Co Fastighetsmäklare
  • CSN Kalmar
  • SkandiaMäklarna
  • Snus24.com
  • Rum 1 Skellefteå
  • Biboköp Skellefteå
  • Vilhelmina Tourist Center
  • Åkesson Bil
  • Spillevinken Falun
  • Swedish Wine Cellar
  • Essex House Miami Beach
  • Riksettan
  • Huset Venice CA
  • TNT Magazine
  • Desert Magazine
  • Vintage Roadside
  • Doc!
  • Dafgårds
  • Swedish Church Of New York
  • Elevated Clothing Co
  • Grand Canyon Association
  • Karlshamn Inreda
  • Salong Preben
  • Haparanda Udda med flit
  • Falun Spillevinken
  • Mariestad Bildmagasinet
  • Tidaholm Pynt & Sånt
  • Jönköping Stigs Bageri
  • Varberg Tre Systrar
  • Clevelander Miami Beach
  • Promo Tools
  • Lidköpingsnytt
  • Cafe Solsidan
  • We Are New Mexico
  • Panam Holidays Inc
  • Aftonbladet Destination
  • Hotel & Restaurang and more