Design Sydost is a business network, aiming to unite the design competence in south east of Sweden. It is an interaction between different design disciplines, companies, education and organizations dealing with growth and development issues in the region. Design Sydost provides information about design services; answering questions on what it is, how to do and where to find it.

I have been taking a big part coordinating Design Sydost from the beginning after an open invitation to the design competence in the region last year. The project is supported by The Regional Council in Kalmar County and the European Union, and connected to Swedish Industrial Design Foundation, The Swedish Society of Crafts and Design and The Swedish Association of Designers. More information about Design Sydost can be found on www.designsydost.se.

As a part of the activities within Design Sydost, a large meeting recently was taking place in Eksjö.  On the 15th of May me, and the design strategist Erik Mohlin, organized, Design Småland 09. The program included very interesting speakers. Jesper Ståhl, founder and owner of Jesper Design in Jönköping, introduced us in their working process and very exciting cases. Marcus Arvonen, from IKEA Design Department, told us the story about his beautiful lamp ”Maskros” and the work behind it. Jonas Pettersson and John Löfgren från Form us with Love showed us their work and also Stina Sandwall from Sandwall Design. The final act was from Håkan Waxegård, the founder of Hultsfredsfestivalen, revealing new music festival projects involving design.

After the meeting the group visited Eksjö Museum and the contemporary design exhibition coordinated by Erik Mohlin. Very nice!

Jonas and John from Form Us With Love

Håkan Waxegård and Erik Mohlin