Together with Svid, Almi and the business network Design Sydost I gave a lecture about creating value with design last week. The target group was sme companies in the region wondering what design can do for them, and also how and where to get in touch with design.

The meeting was held in Vimmerby (the home town of famous author Astrid Lindgren!). Except of me representing my own company; Design Nation and Swedish Designers, the speakers was Martina Lago from Almi and Johan Malmquist from Addi.

After the presentations we did a study visit to the successful light company Zobra where the manager Michael Engstrand showed us the plant and the products.

Chris Bangle – someone say ”Or you love, or hate him”. I admire him!

As the head of design for BMW Chris became one of the most famous – and reviled – auto designers in automotive history. Recently he abruptly resigned after 16 years with the German automaker. His daring designs have affected the industry, and made spurning rivals to follow in emulating his distinctive style.

On the Icsid World Design Congress in Singapore, Chris presented his work and thoughts about Personal Emotional Mobility 2050. He explained how it is a catalyst; a phenomenon that engages and inspires creativity and productivity within society. It was a very inspiring lecture, and I had the pleasure to meet him during my time I spend on the congress.

In my opinion, Chris is an open minded, daring designer contributing to a creative approach to the future of, not only cars, but more interesting – auto mobility. His geniality and strong innovation in automotive design are often compared to his controversy in some solutions. One of them is the BMW GINA concept car from 2008, see video below.

Konstfack (University College of Arts Crafts and Design), Ergonomidesign and White Architects. That was the program for my students at Nässjö Träcentrum when we were going to Stockholm for a field trip on the 17th of November.  Me and my colleague Rolf Herrström arranged the trip, with good assistance from the school. The day couldn’t have been better.

The wide range of the visits gave us an interesting overview. From the different faculties at Konstfack, to Ergonomidesign one of the most successful design agencies in the world, and White who is working with the complete set of skills within architecture and design.

At Konstfack Thomas Herrström was our excellent guide, at Ergonomidesign Maria Benktzon and Peter Ejvinsson, and at White Architects Märta Friman and Björn Tegnell. Thank you all concerned for making this to very pleasant and inspiring day.

A short report from some of my journeys I’ve been doing recently. That includes impressions from fairs and exhibitions in Berlin, Stockholm, Oslo and London. Take a moment and have a look at the slideshow.

It’s obvious how the eco-trend is here to stay, and it’s very interesting to see the directions of the future development within the area. In some way the eco-friendly handicraft connected ideas are being replaced with the more high tech solutions, but still with the eco-friendly attention. Sustainable thoughts have become more naturally included to the process, nothing new when working with industrial design, but far more accepted from the market, much thanks to the importance as selling point.

It is very exciting to see the new materials that are being adapted. And the upcoming fabrics, wallpapers, nano technology – well, it’s pure science fiction. And there are far more to come! Many of the materials that the scientists have done are still waiting for field of application. But there are also the traditional stuff like bamboo, very eco-friendly and adaptable within many areas like furniture, table ware and even fabrics etc.

So… What will the future bring? Well that´s up for you and me to decide. Let´s be optimistic and innovative… and create a sustainable future for next generations.

Design Open is a design competition for Swedish students. I am participating as a coach for leading one of the schools, hopefully to win the first prize. The challenge for the students is to come up with sustainable solutions for future transport needs. This year, 1500 people will be involved in Design Open, together putting in 80 000 h of creative thougts on the subject. It will be intresting to see the outcome of that!
Click here to see the Design Open website.

From the design festival in Sundsvall.

It´s Sunday August 16. I am in Berlin, at historical ground – the Olympic Stadium. The World Championships in Athletics. In just a few minutes Usain Bolt will break the 100 metres world record. He’s about to doing the ”impossible”. But everyone know – the ”impossible” is possible. The expectations are high. But no one expected 9,58.

Usain Bolt and I have the same motto. Anything is possible! That’s what I have in mind in my everyday creative profession, and that’s also the reality for the fastest man on earth. 9 seconds and 58 hundredths. That’s insane. That’s inspiring…

This Wednesday I visited Lammhult Design Group and Abstracta. I did a lecture on design and creativity for a small group of Entrepreneurs, Innovators and people from Almi Business Partner. It was very inspirating to meet all of them, sharing thoughts about business development and strategic design.

Lammhult is a nice spot in the  Kingdom of Furnitures. When traveling there you’ll see a lot of Småland, beautiful landscapes, traditional Swedish houses red with white corners, and a lots of wood. Specially extraordinary in this time on the year.

During the visit we had a short tour to the manufacturing plant. On the picture below our host Thomas is showing the really nice Airflake design by Stefan Borselius. It’s an absorbing screen made from molded fiber felt.