Design School Kolding Annual Magazine 2014 by Designskolen Kolding

EDITORIAL

An entire blank wall, at Design School Kolding, for me, to write on? Thank you very much! You don’t see many of those.

CAMPAIGNING WITH A PACKED LUNCH AND A LIPSTICK

Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen has packed her bag, ready to go look for partners who want to invest in a top-quality design education.

DADDY HAS GONE TO PRISON

’Fars Flugt’ is the name of a designer-created game which is meant to contribute to establishing a social connection between incarcerated individuals and their children.

WHEN PEOPLE ARE LINING UP TO USE THE BLENDER

Management at Skansebakken thought they needed help deciding where the refrigerator should stand. They had to think again.

GRADUATION PROJECTS

The project diversity reflects the range of Design School Kolding’s new designers.

MA DESIGN IN REALITY

All designers who graduate from Design School Kolding collaborate with the surrounding society.

IF YOU DON’T CHALLENGE YOURSELF YOU WON’T LEARN ANYTHING NEW

Lyuba Halacheva had the idea for her graduation project on board a regional train, and today she has designed the world’s first seaweed harvester.

A PROSTHESIS WITH PERSONALITY

Amputees should be able to change prostheses like the rest of us change shoes. That is the philosophy expressed by Patrick Johansen.

NEW LIFE FOR A DYING CRAFT

Originally Camilla Skøtt wanted to be a textile designer, but then she was introduced to the ancient Italian design craft Intarsia.

IN CHINA CHILDREN STOP PLAYING

When Chinese children turn six years old they stop playing. This is a result of a large-scale study of Chinese playing habits conducted by design students in collaboration with LEGO.

IS THIS ME?

When men and women buy new clothes they don’t focus on whether it is the latest fashion. They choose boots or trousers because they feel right.

FASHION SHOW AT THE ROYAL EXCHANGE

The historic hall at the Royal Exchange was a beautiful setting for the newly graduated fashion designers from Design School Kolding. Please enjoy a small selection of the best collections.

GOD IS YELLOW AND HAS AN ERASER ON ONE END

D’Wayne Edwards has one God. She is yellow and has an eraser on one end. Her name is Pencil No. 2.

THE DESIGNER WHO PLAYED DOCTOR

Cancer specialists at Vejle Hospital opened their eyes wide when designer Eva Knutz donned a doctor’s white coat and gave a performance in how they talk to patients.

THE WIG IS IN THE DRAWER Danish cancer patients receive a wig costing thousands of kroner free of charge, but actually they would prefer help with things like acupuncture and house cleaning.

DESIGN SCHOOL KOLDING IN NUMBERS

100 rolls of masking tape. 347,648 cups of coffee. 1,000 kg of fruits and vegetables a week. Stine Kristiansen illustrates Design School Kolding.

TO TURN A SUPERTANKER WITH A FAIRY TALE

ISOVER was hit by the financial crisis and was facing a menacing future. But the development was turned around when the company had a chance to see itself through designer glasses.

COMPANIES THAT USE DESIGN EARN MORE

When a company applies design strategically, it helps to improve the result on the bottom line.

CARREER PROFILES

ECCO, The Library Association of Western Himmerland and Kolding Spildevand have hired three new designers from Design School Kolding.

SHOP WITH A CHIP IN YOUR CLOTHES

In the future elderly people with difficulty remembering will be able to shop independently.

AFFILIATE PROFESSORS

Practice being independent. Both through the financial mess and broken love, says Anders Morgenthaler, one of the school’s nine affiliate professors.

DESIGN OF ACCESSORIES

In 2014, the first 12 students started the new Accessory Design programme at Design School Kolding.

PRIZES AND AWARDS 2014

In 2014, a number of prizes were awarded to present and former students at Design School Kolding.

PUBLICATIONS

Shoes, relationships, welfare, exhibitions. Linked to design these are all topics represented in recent publications by Design School Kolding.

IT LOOKS ORDINARY BUT IT IS HIGH TECHNOLOGY

With assistance from designers in Sustainable Welfare Falck has designed an exhibition flat for handicapped citizens.

PHD DISSERTATIONS

The use of memory in jewellery design is one of several PhD projects at Design School Kolding.

VALUES

Design School Kolding’s vision, mission and values.

RELATIONSHIPS

Good relationships with public and private partners are vital for Design School Kolding.

IN 2015 YOU CAN ALSO FIND US HERE

Copenhagen, Aarhus, Milan, Allinge, Ghana, Shanghai, Koldinghus. Find Design School Kolding in Denmark and across the world.

COLOPHON

This is an extraordinary annual report about Design School Kolding in 2014, which in journal format relates new and unexpected stories about what design can do.

CAMPAIGNING WITH A PACKED LUNCH AND A LIPSTICK Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen has packed her bag, ready to go look for partners who want to invest in a top-quality design education. ‘It makes us better at speaking other people’s language’ CHARLOTTE MELIN ANITA GRAVERSEN

There are two things Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen always carries in her handbag. A packed lunch and a red lipstick. As rector of Design School Kolding she is always ready to embark on a campaign to find external partners who want to be part of creating what she calls ‘a top-quality education’. And that is necessary, because money does not roll automatically into the school’s coffers. - The State Budget appropriations we receive per student are smaller than those the design school in Copenhagen receives, even though we must fulfil the same requirements, she says. Like an anthropologist, Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen goes into the field, carrying carbohydrates for her stomach and colour for her lips, with the clear purpose of mapping what the outside world is looking for. How should Design School Kolding educate designers who will be of benefit to society? Her outreach work in companies and public institutions has created several fruitful partnerships. Over the last six years the income curve from external revenue has risen dramatically, and today one third of the school’s total revenue stems from contracts with private and public partners. - Our efforts to secure private as well as alternative public funding not only make us financially strong, but in general make us better at speaking their language and delivering the product. Our many external partners train our ability to deliver results. And that is one of the things our students have to be able to do. Design School Kolding has just inaugurated new workshops for leather and footwear, and in late December 2014 one of the world’s leading footwear designers, American D’Wayne Edwards, completed a fourweek teaching engagement at the school. Both events were a result of the three-year extension, in 2014, of the collaboration agreement between the school and ECCO, the Danish footwear giant. - From a concrete perspective, we needed to expand our knowledge about footwear design in general. Designers often think textiles before they think shoes. Hence, we wanted to approach the designers of the future and explore what would motivate the students to focus on shoes, says Jakob Møller Hansen, Chief Designer at ECCO. And the collaboration works both ways. ECCO employees teach at the school, serve as external examiners, and thus have an opportunity to opt out of the rat race for a while and be inspired by an educational and research environment, says Elsebeth Gerner. - As I see it, there is a need to tear down the division between education and business development. The pace of innovation is so hectic that educational institutions find it very difficult to keep up. The better we become at letting the educations expand beyond the institutions and into the companies’ development departments, the more relevant we become. Design School Kolding is one of the higher education institutions in Denmark that, relatively speaking, collects most funds from external partners. In 2014 the school’s total budget was DKK 75 million, of which 26.6 million came from external partners such as Kopenhagen Fur, Kolding Municipality, Hospital Lillebælt, ECCO, TREFOR and LEGO. Close to 50 million were allocated from the national Budget and are meant to ensure the freedom to experiment and conduct basic research and development work within the area of design. - We prefer to establish collaborations that leave room for errors as well as learning. The purpose of the partnership agreements and business collaborations is not merely to add revenue but also to maximize the acquisition of knowledge, which supports the design industry as well as our own education, Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen concludes. 7

DADDY HAS GONE TO

PRISON ’Fars Flugt’ (Daddy’s Escape) is the name of a designer-created game which is meant to contribute to establishing a social connection between incarcerated individuals and their children BIRGITTE WULFF

It is important that children have contact with their fathers, also when those fathers are in prison. Several studies indicate that children of inmates run a much higher risk of ending up on the same path as their father if they do not visit him in prison.

The reason is that they fail to build what psychologists call ‘resilience’, which in everyday language means resistance to committing crimes like their father. In other words, the social ties are crucial for children of inmates, and games and play could help establish this tie.

Awkward situation

This is the opinion of Eva Knutz, Assistant Professor at Design School Kolding, and her colleague, Associate Professor Thomas Markussen. They have just completed their application to the Danish foundation TrygFonden to fund a three-year research project ‘Social Games Against Crime’.

The project started three years ago and is based on collaboration between the Danish Prison Service, the association SAVN, the Centre for Children’s Research, the University of Delft, Holland, Design Against Crime and prison staff in charge of children’s affairs.

”Many inmates are exceptional mothers and fathers who love their children as much as everyone

From their second year in the Communication Design Programme at Design School Kolding the

FACTS ABOUT THE RESEARCH PROJECT: The application to the TrygFonden is for DKK 5 million and is supposed to run for three years. One year has been allocated to development of games including a game workshop for inmates and their children. The following institutions are partners in the project: Design School Kolding, The Danish association SAVN, The Danish Prison Service, Centre for Children’s Research, Design Against Crime in England, the Technical University in Delft, Holland and Aarhus School of Architecture.

else. They have committed a crime all right, but it’s not the children who should be punished. The past attitude was: Like father, like son. That approach is obsolete, and now there is a strong focus on actively improving the conditions for the invisible group of children that get co-punished, because their father is locked up,” says Eva Knutz.

students have developed a substantial number of prototypes of board games, card games and toys geared to children 11 to 16 years of age, since it is typically around this age that children stop visiting their father in prison. ”We have consciously excluded games where learning is involved. Learning is not what this is about; the idea is to develop ties and break some of the taboos that exist when one’s parent is incarcerated. We know that some children drop out because they have nothing to talk about with their father when they visit him, and then the situation becomes awkward. Some tools are missing, and this is where the games come in,” says Eva Knutz.

Swindlers and thieves The name of one of the games is ’Fars Flugt’ (Dad-

dy’s Escape). It directly focuses on a theme that interests many inmates: How can I escape from prison? Here the father and the child can play different roles. Another game is called ’Fængslet’ (Incarcerated) and is designed like a Monopoly game. But instead of buying properties the players have to go through a gallery of characters such as murderers, swindlers, thieves etc. with whom they can build alliances and relationships. ”The most fascinating part of the initial process has been to establish boundaries, whether there are topics we cannot touch. We have also designed a game called ‘Rehab’ where you meet all sorts of people in prison – from drug prostitutes to murderers – and once you are inside it’s impossible to get out. The interesting thing is to see whether it is fun or we have gone too far. Wheth-

er the language is too rough or the children laugh because they recognize it from other games,” says Eva Knutz. Along the way Eva Knutz and Thomas Markussen have visited the maximum security prison Østjylland, and the prisons Søbysøgaard, Vejle Arrest and Kolding Arrest. The two designers have also collaborated closely with the prison guards responsible for children’s affairs. ”It has been essential in order to understand how different prisons can be and how the world inside the walls is constructed. The people in charge of children’s relations have a very personal approach to both the inmates and their children, and I am impressed at the way they talk about the inmates,” says Eva Knutz.

WHEN P ARE LIN TO US BLEN 10

PEOPLE NING UP SE THE NDER

Management at Skansebakken thought they needed help deciding where the refrigerator should stand. They had to think again. Together with three designers they came to realize that it was the mood around the dinner table that needed fixing

Where should the refrigerator go, and how do we avoid queues at the blender? These were more or less the questions that Trine Holm Erichsen and her colleagues had when they approached the development department LAB at Design School Kolding BIRGITTE WULFF ANITA GRAVERSEN

Trine Holm Erichsen is project coordinator at Skansebakken, Vejle, an institution for multihandicapped adults. She has previously been successful in using designers to push a process in a new direction. In 2012-2013 the collaboration was named ‘Designing Relationships’, which was intended to create better social relations for the handicapped residents. The project was so successful that it received Local Government Denmark’s (LGDK) Innovation Prize 2013.

FACTS ABOUT SKANSEBAKKEN IN VEJLE Extended stays for multihandicapped adults Residents are in need of extensive physical care and speciality pedagogical assistance 45 full-time places 1 respite care place The age spread among residents is from 18 to 80 years

Since then Skansebakken has been renovated, and the staff could not agree on how the areas around the new kitchen should be designed. So, they called Design School Kolding, but it quickly turned out that it was not the design of the kitchen that was the problem, but rather something much more intangible, i.e. the mood at meal times. “We are very solution oriented, and when we have a problem we usually establish new rules or new guidelines. We think we have solved the problem, but instead we create new ones, because we did not get to the core of the problem, and then we start all over again, of course. We wanted to do things differently and have a fresh set of eyes look at us,” says Trine Holm Erichsen. Joan Pedersen is a designer at LAB at Design School Kolding, and she was one of the designers who took a look at Skansebakken.

There are 110 employees “A designer can change attitudes and push a process forward; we question things that others may take for granted,” says Joan Pedersen.

The good meal The first step was a kick-off workshop at Skansebakken in which management, selected staff, a local cook and the designers participated. The agenda was to define what characterises a good meal. “We asked the staff to look at the difference between a meal at home and a meal at work, and we realized that there was a huge difference in priorities,” says Trine Holm Erichsen. When the staff ate with their families it was important that there was ample time, that the mood and the atmosphere were pleasant, and that everyone was involved. When the staff was at work, the meals were completely different. They were characterised by busyness, practical chores, and often the mood was not very pleasant. “It was interesting to see that there was such a difference, and we realized that the real problem was the status of the meal. For the staff the meal was part of their work, but for the residents the meals were consumed in their own private home. We had to reconcile those two attitudes,” says Trine Holm Erichsen.

The workshop launched a new round consisting of four experiments: How the food was blended (which was necessary, because many of the residents had difficulty chewing the food properly and therefore risked choking), how the food was served – and by whom – how the table was laid, and whether the staff should eat with the residents. Then the discussions started.

Hotchpotch or separately “People strongly disagreed about whether meat, potatoes and red cabbage should be blended together or whether it should be blended so that you can taste the food separately and then arranged nicely on the plate. It was a really fruitful discussion, although none of the solutions were right or wrong,” says Trine Holm Erichsen. Shortly afterwards the staff and the designers went on an inspirational trip to Center for Multiple Funktionsnedsættelser (Centre for Multiple Disabilities), at Lynghuset at Nørrebro in Copenhagen, an institution with similar staffing and type of clientele as Skansebakken. That was an eye opener for the staff from Jutland. ”At Lynghuset meals had a very high status. They were not something that had to be completed quickly so that we could return to the pedagogical activities. The meal in itself IS a pedagogical activity. The visit provided really good energy, and I think it helped put the staff’s professionalism in perspective,” says Trine Holm Erichsen.

The good intentions The project, which was called “Køkkenfortællinger” (Kitchen Stories), is now completed, and the result is that Skansebakken has set up a number of meal councils, and each section has formulated a mission statement. And this is not a fly-by-night initiative, says Trine Erichsen. “We thought we had one problem, but the designers helped us realize that we actually had a different one. They initiated a very important process, and we have learnt that the meal has a very important status for both the residents and the staff,” she says. Both Trine Erichsen and Joan Pedersen experienced that some of the staff found it difficult to collaborate with the designers, because – what do they really know, how is this going to end? “The result is not known beforehand, and there is always a critical point in the project where the customer asks, “What do we get for the money, and what will the result be,” says Joan Pedersen. At Skansebakken it won’t be the last time management turns to design methods to solve problems, but finances are tight, so management has chosen to train Trine Holm Erichsen and four other staff members in the use of design in the work place. “We will most definitely use the tools we have received, for they are very effective in driving a process and for solving problems, without having to change rules and policies,” says Trine Holm Erichsen.

Photo: “Previously the mood at the table was not always pleasant, because the meal was something that we just had to be over and done with. Now it is one of the highlights of the day,” says Trine Holm Erichsen, Project Manager at Skansebakken, which has completed a long design project.

GRADUATION

Photo: Anders Faurby

Ditte Gjøde

Emilia Fiona Weir

Kathrine Gram Hvejsel

MA design / graphic design

MA design / textiles

MA design / fashion

With her graduation project Ditte Gjøde has created a graphic musical score. Her goal was to create a tool for conductors to get a better overview of the score. Based on conductors’ work and in collaboration with Phillip Faber, conductor of The Danish National Girls Choir, she has studied and translated selected elements of the score, such as rhythmics, dynamics, phrasing, cueing and voice division into visual expressions.

In her graduation project Emilia Fiona Weir uses different materials to tell positive stories about Fringe Denmark. She has visited and stayed with people in the town of Tønder and on the islands of Lolland and Falster and she has interviewed them about places with positive energy. Subsequently she has woven the landscape. She has sheared the wool herself, spun and dyed it and has thus had a hands-on approach to the entire process.

The starting point of Kathrine Gram Hvejsel’s graduation project is the ten classical looks of fashion – for example t-shirt, trench coat, miniskirt, sneakers and sunglasses – based on which she has created a sustainable collection which is also sustainable over time. Kathrine Gram Hvejsel’s work has caught the attention of Reebok, which has hired her for a so-called apprentice position in the company’s innovation department in Massachusetts in the USA.

N PROJECTS MA DESIGN IN REALITY All designers who graduate from Design School Kolding collaborate with the surrounding society Design School Kolding wants to strengthen the ties to the surrounding society. Therefore the new batch of designers has completed their graduation projects in collaboration with companies, public institutions or with civil society. The ties between the school and the rest of society are already strong, not least due to a number of partnership agreements with companies and local government. The ties are strengthened since every MA design graduate has extensive knowledge of how design work is carried out in real life and hence displays better business acumen. “Design students can do a lot but they cannot fake reality. And they don’t have to because it’s right in front of them,” says Lone Dalsgaard André, Head of Education at Design School Kolding. The projects are very diverse and range from mapping new design areas for companies, exploring technologies and materials, to redesigning existing products, systems or solutions. “We want our students to do well; that means we want them to get a job after graduation. Therefore, we do everything we can to bridge the gaps between the students, the school and the surrounding society,” says Lone Dalsgaard André.

Stine Kristiansen

Christian Leth

Nanna Rosalia Sigaard

MA design / illustration

MA design / industrial design

MA design / illustration

Hair down there or not? What is your opinion about hairiness? What should we look like on top and on bottom? What do we consider natural and unnatural? That is the topic of Stine Kristiansen’s graduation project. The goal has been to create inspirational material for the organisation Sex og Samfund (Sex and Society), which is appropriate for sex education in primary and lower secondary school. The material is meant to make young women relate to and talk about their body and also what decides their ideals.

Christian Leth was trained as an engineer. His graduation project introduces bamboo as a sustainable alternative to wood in the form of a collection of three different chairs. In his design he utilises a special craft technique from Asia and spent 14 days in Vietnam in connection with the project making prototypes in collaboration with local craftsmen. Collaboration partner: Cinas A/S.

Posttraumatic stress-syndrome – what does it feel like? How do you make others understand what it is like to be constantly on your guard? For her graduation project Nanna Rosalia Sigaard created a hand-drawn animation film in 3D which vividly communicates the experience of being a war veteran with Posttraumatic stress-syndrome. She visualises what we cannot see and have difficulty talking about and relating to.

IF YOU DON’T CHALLENGE YOURSELF YOU WON’T LEARN ANYTHING NEW Lyuba Halacheva had the idea for her graduation project on board a regional train, and today she has designed the world’s first seaweed harvester A seaweed harvester. How does a young, female design student come up with the idea of designing and building a seaweed harvester? No one has done it before her, and she would be the first ind the world to build this kind of machine. Lyuba Halacheva was at a loss when she had to decide, in the spring of 2014, what she wanted to do for her graduation project at Design School Kolding. She had studied industrial design, and she either wanted to do something related to film or build an ‘object’ that would be useful. But it took a train trip to give her the idea. “I read an article in Ud & Se, the free magazine distributed in the regional train, about Rasmus Bjerregaard from Malling, who was the first Danish seaweed farmer, and suddenly I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to construct a seaweed harvester, which was a missing piece of machinery in their production,” says Lyuba Halacheva.

BIRGITTE WULFF MARIUS KRISTENSEN

Lyuba Halacheva contacted Rasmus Bjerregaard, who initially was somewhat sceptical whether a designer was capable of meeting their challenge. But the young woman with Bulgarian roots shook his perception of what a designer can be used for, and by means of LEGO bricks and expanded polystyrene models she convinced him that they should start a partnership. “Most people think visually, and it was easier to explain my ideas through small models than with words. Rasmus started by mapping the entire production in the business, which was important in order to understand how I should read the assignment. Seaweed is cultivated on rope lines, and the challenge is to avoid ripping the rope during the harvesting process,” explained Lyuba Halacheva.

Grant for DKK 25,000 In the course of a semester, Lyuba Halacheva had built a prototype of a seaweed harvester, for which

she received an A+ at her graduation exam, and in addition, she received a grant for DKK 25,000 from the Danish National Bank. “It is important for me to focus on sustainability, and I wish to make a key tool that will make a difference. I am keen to be part of the start of an industry and help improve it, and it was important to be able to say that I had helped start something big,” says Lyuba Halacheva. Born in Bulgaria, Lyuba Halacheva came to Denmark as a teenager, and she did not always know that she wanted to be a designer. But she has always been interested in how things work, rather than what they look like. “I have always liked to make things, and as a child I got frustrated if it did not turn out the way I wanted. It is a constant burden to be a designer, because you are never satisfied. There is always something

Over: “It is a constant burden to be a designer, because you are never satisfied.” says Lyuba Halacheva, who has designed the world’s first seaweed harvester. Right: Lyuba Halacheva received an A+ for her seaweed harvester developed in partnership with Denmark’s first seaweed farmer, Rasmus Bjerregaard from Malling south of Aarhus.

you can do better, but if you don’t challenge yourself you’ll never learn anything new,” says Lyuba Halacheva.

Oscar winner Lyuba Halacheva has other talents than building complicated machines. She is also very fond of films, and she was the one who built the scenery for the short film ‘Helium’, directed by Anders Walter. It became a tremendous success, and in 2014 it won an Oscar for best short film. “My dream is to be able to live from creating worlds, but also impact our world,” says Lyuba Halacheva, who today works for IBC in Kolding creating platforms for E-learning. So far the seaweed harvester is a prototype, but both she and Rasmus Bjerregaard hope that it will be put in production soon.

A PROSTHESIS WITH PERSONALITY Amputees should be able to change prostheses like the rest of us change shoes. That is the philosophy expressed by Patrick Johansen, who completed his graduation project about prostheses at Design School Kolding BIRGITTE WULFF KATRINE WORSØE KRISTENSEN

People who have lost a physical part of themselves should have better opportunities to express their personality, just like other people express their personality when they buy new clothes and new shoes. That is the belief of Patrick Johansen, who graduated from Design School Kolding in the summer of 2014. Patrick Johansen has studied industrial design at the Design School, and his graduation project was three leg prostheses designed for three different individuals. The prostheses are all made of glass fiber and can be snapped into place like a regular leg prosthesis, but they vary greatly in their expressions.

Tatoos and treetops One prosthesis is designed for Tina, who was born with her handicap. It is shaped like a tree, where an impressive treetop spreads its branches and leaves around Tina’s calf. The other prosthesis is designed for Bo, who lost his leg in a motorcycle accident. Bo already had many tattoos, so it was obvious to decorate the splint with yet another etching. The last prosthesis is Jens’ yellow plastic prosthesis, which he got after he lost his lower leg in a work-related accident. “Prior to the project I contacted the Facebook group Active Young Amputees, and I soon realized that none of them related to their prosthesis. They wanted it to be apparent that they had a prosthesis and that it expressed their personality,” says Patrick Johansen.

sons do not have the same opportunities, and all are subject to stringent local government budgets, which focus on the bottom line. ”I have solely concentrated on design and stayed far away from tinkering with the technical part of the leg prosthesis, which might have created problems in relation to who would have to pay the bill in case the prosthesis later broke,” says Patrick Johansen. In November Patrick Johansen participated with his leg prostheses in the design competition Danish Entrepreneurship Award 2014, and subsequently the three prostheses returned to their rightful owners. “The most important thing for me is that I can make a difference with my project, and of course the three individuals should be allowed to use the prostheses which they themselves have helped develop,” says Patrick Johansen. He hopes that the leg prostheses will attract so much attention that they will go into production and not just remain a graduation project. “I have followed the three people closely, and I am surprised how important the prosthesis is in their lives, perhaps especially in young people’s lives. I think it is important that we take their need to recapture their personality seriously, and I hope enough money will be set aside for developing personal prostheses for them, which they can change according to their mood and need, like we change shoes,” says Patrick Johansen, who today works as a freelance designer.

Friend in an accident The idea for designing leg prostheses originally came to life when one of his friends was severely injured while he was a soldier in Afghanistan. The friend had been close to where a bomb exploded, and when he returned five months later, he had lost a leg and an arm. He also had a severe hearing impairment. Today the friend has moved to the United States where he participates in a rehabilitation project for war veterans, which gives him ample opportunity for retraining. Patrick Johansen’s three test per-

Photo: A prosthesis should express personality, says Patrick Johansen, who received an A+ for his graduation project about leg prostheses at Design School Kolding.

NEW LIFE FOR A DYING CRAFT Originally, Camilla Skøtt wanted to be a textile designer, but then she was introduced to the ancient Italian design craft Intarsia, which was close to dying out. Now she has crafted a beautiful table and received top grades for her graduation project KENNETH LEY MILLING CHRISTIAN LORENTZEN

For the then 28-year-old design student Camilla Skøtt a fascination with old trades eventually made her change her plans of studying textile design to rolling up her sleeves, grabbing tools and working in wood. Taking an ancient craft and giving it a contemporary expression was simply too great a temptation. Intarsia is the name of the technique behind the elegant cabinet making. The roots go back to prehistoric Egypt, and the technique is used to construct inlaid motives in furniture and similar items. For her graduation project Camilla Skøtt designed a table with an Intarsia table top in finely carved and inlaid Zebrano veneer. She received an A+.

Decorations and wood The Intarsia technique had its heyday during the Renaissance and early Baroque period. At that time, the motives were often flowers and birds. In Camilla Skøtt’s hands the motives are triangular and in different sizes which collectively create a bridge between old style and new design. “In terms of style we have cut almost to the bone today. We make poured concrete floors and large white wall surfaces, and an Intarsia table provides a lot of structure and sensuality in such a room. In the 1950s and 60s a lot of ornamentation was used in wallpaper, rugs and cushion covers. But it was rarely integrated into furniture. I thought that would be fun and interesting to try,” says Camilla Skøtt.

Method and craftsmanship Initially it was the rector of Design School Kolding who, after a visit to the company Intarsia ApS in Ringe, came back and raved about the unique craft. Intarsia Aps is the only remaining company in Scandinavia that still works with the technique, which is dying out. The excitement infected

Camilla Skøtt, and after she herself had visited the company’s carpenter, Ursula Dyrbye-Skovsted, she threw herself into the craft. “I fell in love with wood as a material and wanted to explore it further. It can do so much which I have not tried yet. And even if it is not a textile, it has a lot of texture which one can play together with other materials – or alone – depending on the technique,” she explains. All the triangles in the tabletop are hand carved, 0.6 millimeter thick and placed on a 24 millimeter thick board made of birch plywood. The edges of the table are open in order to make the craftsmanship visible. Along the way Camilla had to compromise in regard to several ideas she had brought with her from her starting point in textiles and furniture. Copper and several other materials had to be omitted at different stages, and the final table turned out very different from the original idea.

“I felt that I cut off more and more of my professional skills. But it is necessary to constantly assess what works, of course. I was, however, more pleased with the result than I had expected.”

Old craft in new design Camilla Skøtt has spent a total of more than 1000 hours on the Intarsia table, which ended up costing approximately DKK 50,000. In addition to spreading the knowledge about the Intarsia technique, before it vanishes, she also has a specific assignment trying to see how the number of man hours and cost price can be reduced. “These days we have many clean surfaces in our home, and there is room for returning some ornamentation to some of the products. I can easily see the technique survive. But we have to get out there while the craft is still alive through the factory in Ringe. We may have to work with small surfaces to start with so that time consumption and price end up on a more realistic level,” says Camilla Skøtt. Today the Intarsia technique is primarily used in restauration of old furniture at the company in Ringe. But, Camilla Skøtt predicts that with the table and novel design ideas, opportunities may open up for new and younger customer groups.

IN CHINA CHILDREN STOP PLAYING When Chinese children turn six years old, they stop playing. This is the conclusion of a large-scale study of Chinese family patterns and playing habits conducted by design students in collaboration with the LEGO Group in Shanghai BIRGITTE WULFF KATRINE WORSØE KRISTENSEN

FACTS ABOUT THE VISITS LEGO has extensive growth strategies for China and want to learn more about the Chinese family pattern A recruiting firm in Shanghai chose the 30 families There had to be an even distribution of girls and boys in three age groups: 5-6 years, 7-8 years, 9-10 years The visit lasted two hours The parents received a questionnaire The children had to perform small tasks, e.g. play cards or make drawings The children’s everyday life consists of all-day school and homework. During the weekend they go for tutoring and take art classes A typical family consists of children, parents and grandparents. Most children do not have their own room

Chinese children are very good students and get top grades in school; but they are not good at being creative, so we don’t need to fear that they overtake us in the area of innovation. This is the evaluation of Karen Feder, Project Manager of the Laboratory for Design and Play at Design School Kolding. Last autumn she was in Shanghai together with a group of students, in order to study – in collaboration with the LEGO Group – how Chinese children play and what the opportunities are for developing new toys. “In Denmark there is an overheated debate suggesting that we are being overtaken by the Chinese and that we have to introduce Pisa tests and send our children in all-day schools in order to keep pace with them. As far as I am concerned, I am not worried. The Chinese children are good students, and we can definitely learn a lot from their approach, but in terms of the creative subjects there is no reason for concern,” says Karen Feder.

Children don’t play together Together with students from the university in Shanghai Karen Feder and the Danish design students visited 30 middle-class families in order to gain insight into family patterns - who make deci-

sions in the family, whether the children have their own room, how children play, and how they integrate digital and physical play. “We collected extensive research material, and the unique thing was that we did not only talk about play. We also looked at how the home was designed and studied the family structure. As far as I know, a similar wide-ranging study of Chinese families has never been done. It is obvious that we come from two very different cultures and that we do not share our views of what it means to be a child at all. For example, Chinese children never invite friends home, and they never visit each other, like we do, for they say that they are with their friends in school,” says Karen Feder.

Toys disappear The field study shows, for example, that toys by and large disappear from the home when the child turns six years old. “The children have teddy bears, board games and markers, but they don’t have toys per se. The small children did not have as many reservations towards us as the older children, who were clearly used to having to come up with the correct answer and the right solution. A 10-year-old girl told us that she went for art classes, and she showed us a

drawing she had made which was very impressive with pyramids, squares and shadows. We asked her what else she had drawn and she showed us a similar drawing. It turned out that she made the same drawing every time she went to class, and when we asked her to draw something she thought was very nice, she just looked at us without comprehending. Time and time again we saw that when we gave them an open assignment, they became deeply confused,” says Karen Feder. When the students returned to Kolding, they prepared their material and presented it to the LEGO Group, which was interested in learning how their toys can fit into a Chinese family structure. “We saw a little bit of LEGO in the families’ homes, but the Chinese children had a totally different idea of how to play with it. They said, for example, “I have three sets.” They build one figure, and when they have finished, that’s it. They don’t see

that they can dismantle the figure and build a new one or combine the individual boxes. LEGO also had expectations that the children would combine the digital elements with physical play, but by and large we did not observe this,” says Karen Feder. The project in China has been an elective for 4th year students in Industrial Design, Communication Design and Textile Design. The students have learnt, among other things, how to gain insights into people with different cultures and how to use that knowledge to develop new design.

A future in LEGO “Apart from insight into Chinese culture the school has also gained experience in working with another university and learnt how to tie the knowledge we gain together with a specific company. It was invaluable to be able to draw on the Chinese students’ advice on how to behave when visiting a Chinese family. Conversely, they have learnt how

to use design methods to collect information in a far more open and creative way than they were used to. Like the children, the students had great difficulty relating to an open assignment, whereas the Danish design students just took the plunge,” says Karen Feder. The students have submitted a number of design ideas to the LEGO Group, and Karen Feder hopes that the collaboration with the company can continue in various areas. “I hope that some of our students can become trainees at the LEGO Group and would perhaps like to work in the company when they graduate. We would like to educate designers in play, and we may do that by learning what the LEGO designers know – and don’t know. On the other hand we could offer the LEGO Group supplementary training in design,” says Karen Feder.

IS THIS ME?

When men and women buy new clothes they don’t necessarily focus on whether it is the latest fashion. They choose boots or trousers because they like the style, the colours and the cut, and because it feels right to, for instance, put on a pair of cowboy boots BIRGITTE WULFF STINE KRISTIANSEN

In other words, the consumers ask themselves: Is that me, and do the trousers go with the rest of my wardrobe? This is one of the unexpected conclusions of the PhD dissertation “The Daily Selection”, defended by Else Skjold, who has a Master’s degree in modern culture and cultural communication. Else Skjold has used the “wardrobe method” in her research studying ordinary people’s wardrobes, and the many interviews with both men and women reveal that it’s emotions that guide our purchases, not the desire to be in on the latest fashion. - When a man buys a pair of cowboy boots it’s not because they are the latest fashion, but because they give him a feeling of being a cowboy,” says Else Skjold. Else Skjold therefore recommends that the fashion industry focuses on consumers who are not necessarily interested in fashion, but who like to buy new clothes. - The fashion industry focuses primarily on young women with a lot of money, but that group is not very large. There are people who are willing to pay a lot of money for clothes once they find something that fits them well, and that is the group I think the fashion industry should concentrate on much more,” says Else Skjold who has eagerly shared her research with the media. Else Skjold believes for example that her studies of consumers’ clothes buying habits show that the fashion industry need not change their collections so often and that it would be not only a financial, but also an environmental advantage for the companies. - If your goal is to create high-quality products that fit well and last a long time, you are more likely to gain more loyal customers. It could also create a better balance between production and consumption, which would give rise to a more sustainable industry,” says Else Skjold. The dissertation was created in collaboration with the footwear manufacturer ECCO, Fashion Designer Mads Nørgaard and faculty at Design School Kolding.

Nanna Odderskær

Maria-Louise Vagner Sørensen

Sandra Lynder Franck

Camilla Askholm

Fashion Designer

Can quantum mechanics be applied as an inspiration for designing a fashion collection? That is the basis of Sandra’s graduation project, in which she has worked in concrete terms with abstract phenomena such as the Fibonacci spiral, the Golden Section and quantum mechanics.

Fashion Designer A classical, downplayed and exclusive expression. Those are three key elements in Nanna’s graduation collection, which circles around the indefinable which attracts us and gives us a sensual feeling of satisfaction through garments.

In her graduation collection Maria-Louise has worked with style icons such as Marlene Dietrich, who had a hermaphrodite appearance. She has studied how the feminine and the masculine are being interpreted in the 21st century and how identity is expressed through choice of garments.

Fashion Designer

Fashion Designer As a fashion designer Camilla is interested in similarities and dissimilarities. Inspired by Greek mythology and the motor sport Formula 1, she has created a contrast-filled collection for women. Seen in silhouette the collection radiates an extreme look that contrasts with the individual units, which appear more recognizable.

Ida Blomstrøm Fashion Designer The paintings of Tal R are easily recognisable, simultaneously naïve and expressive. They rhyme with each other, so to speak. This is the starting point for Ida’s counterpart in textile, a women’s fashion collection consisting of summer suits in flax, in which she has incorporated the painter’s use of structures, rhythm and mix of materials. 3

Ramona Reile Fashion Designer The figure Action Man has inspired Ramona to create a body-conscious collection which aims to push the boundaries for modern men’s clothing. With obvious references to the military and sports and outdoor activities, her collection is designed to accentuate the man’s muscular body.

Aja Marie Skyum Fashion Designer In her graduation project Aja Marie has worked with graphic elements used in a tension field between shadows and white surfaces. She has studied how old craftsmanship and production methods can be applied in a contemporary context.

FASHION SHOW AT THE ROYAL EXCHANGE In 2014, the historic hall at the Royal Exchange was a beautiful, contrasting setting for the newly graduated fashion designers from Design School Kolding. Please enjoy a small selection of the many collections which were presented to the industry and the media for the first time VICTOR JONES

Sanne Keil Sørensen Fashion Designer Crime, violence and gangs in the ghetto are the basis of Sanne’s graduation project, a feminine high-end streetwear collection which simultaneously radiates the raw, the vulnerable and the loving while also being full of attitude. It is meant for the self-confident woman who likes to express herself through style and design.

Emilie Brinch

Trine Ostenfeldt Møller

Lærke Marie Valum

Anna Nydam

Fashion Designer

In her graduation project Emilie has studied Islamic culture and the contrasts that emerge in the meeting with the West. On that background she has created a mood on which her visual expression is based.

The tamed and the wild. The gentleman and the gang member. The bestial and the human. Based on archetypal contrasts Trine has designed a women’s collection targeted at young people who live in a vibrant urban environment. Trine has challenged existing animal prints and also developed a majority of the materials herself.

Lærke’s graduation project is an architectural collection. It is based on her desire to develop and test new design methods which will create space around the body. Using as her starting point buildings designed by the Japanese architect Tadao Ando, renowned for his large empty spaces, Lærke has translated the architectural spaces, surfaces, openings, scales and materials into clothing.

’Choosing my religion’ is the name of Anna’s graduation project, which moves in the tension field between religion and lifestyle, more specifically between worship of the Pope and the motorcycle culture. Many people use religion as a lifestyle, whereas others use lifestyle as religion. Common for both: passion creates value. 13

Kathrine Gram Hvejsel Fashion Designer

NOIHSAF TA WOHS LAYOR EHT EGNAHCXE a saw egnahcxE layoR eht ta llah cirotsih eht ,4102 nI detaudarg ylwen eht rof gnittes gnitsartnoc ,lufituaeb esaelP .gnidloK loohcS ngiseD morf srengised noihsaf hcihw snoitcelloc ynam eht fo noitceles llams a yojne eht rof aidem eht dna yrtsudni eht ot detneserp erew emit tsrfi

The starting point of Kathrine’s graduation project is that fashion is one of the industries that demand the most resources. Based on the ten classic looks – for example the t-shirt, the trench coat, the miniskirt, sneakers, sunglasses and the little black dress – she has created a sustainable collection which will also be long-lasting in terms of style. 14

Line Rosenlund Jensen Fashion Designer The simple Nordic life. The coarse, the courageous, the fine, the delicate. Natural colours. A glimpse of old times inserted into a contemporary context. That is the inspiration for Line’s graduation project. Using old techniques and craftsmanship she has designed a fashion collection which focuses on sustainable concepts from bygone days. 15

Pernille Pram Sax Fashion Designer Female snowboarders often have to engage in their sport dressed in men’s clothes, because the selection is much larger. For her graduation project Pernille has designed a snowboard collection for women, which combines classic outerwear materials with feminine touches of fur and silk.

Louise Egebro Fashion Designer Louise’s graduation project demonstrates that men’s fashion has started to present itself in earnest as ”the new kid on the block.” And the new kid is multi-cultural. Louise has worked with Jews and with Masai warriors whose cultures she has pulled apart in order to understand them, without actually having visited neither Africa nor Israel.

God is yellow and has an eraser on one end Companies express a demand for designers who are competent in drawing and sketching, and the students show a marked improvement after four weeks’ training by one of the world’s leading footwear designers, D’Wayne Edwards BIRGITTE WULFF KATRINE WORSØE KRISTENSEN

D’Wayne Edwards has one God. She is yellow and has an eraser on one end. Her name is Pencil No. 2. D’Wayne Edwards also loves shoes, and he is so good at designing them, actually one of the leading designers in the world, that he has called his design school in the United States ‘Pensole’. Pen and sole. For four weeks, the 47-year-old American was a guest lecturer at Design School Kolding, where the students came to experience his love. His love for what in America is called sketching, which probably translates into both drawing and sketching.

Graphite Almost 100% carbon

Paint

Rubber Butadiene + styrene (ethylene + benzene) from kerosene Red pigment

Metal Californian cedar wood

“Throughout my career I have always used a pencil, and if you want to be a good designer I believe you have to be competent in drawing and sketching. Today young people work primarily with computers, but the digital tool can never replace the pencil. The computer has a very limited personality and cannot develop your ability to sketch. The only thing it can do is further develop the abilities you have already acquired. There is a personal connection when you work with paper and pencil. DNA and genetics emerge. I know it is a strange comparison, but you don’t really ‘give birth’ to your drawing if you use a computer, and I clearly see the difference. The design lacks character,” says D’Wayne Edwards.

Cramp in the hand D’Wayne Edwards has been in charge of his design school Pensole for many years, and his experience is that students the world over have become worse at sketching and are so unaccustomed to having a pencil between their fingers that they get cramps in their hand. That is a problem. According to D’Wayne Edwards companies increasingly want to see what designers can do with their hands and not only what they can perform on their computer. The subject of the course at Design School Kolding was sketching. Hours of sketching. And after four weeks the students could present a new collection of shoes for ECCO, which is a partner of the school. Is drawing an innate talent, or can it be learnt? “Both. You can be born with the talent, but if you don’t use it, it vanishes. You can also learn it. One expression is called ’10,000 hours’. It means that if you decide to be good at something you have to have practiced for 10,000 hours. I believe that’s true.”

No. 2 Problems “Uneven point”

No. 2 Problems ”Creeping collar”

No. 2 Problems “Uneven collar”

No. 2 Problems “Louis XVI”

No. 2 Problems “Exposed collar”

No. 2 Problems ”That’ll do, pig”

Why is it important that the students learn to sketch? “Because that is what companies are looking for. They want to see the whole journey, and not just the finished result. If your process is the computer from day one until the final day, it is not very attractive. Drawings, on the other hand, are like a physical thought which you transfer to paper. Your sketch book becomes your visual diary of what you have done and thought along the way.

A computer will never be able to show the personal conversation you have had with yourself in the course of the process,” says D’Wayne Edwards.

A question of overcoming adversity D’Wayne Edwards came to know Design School Kolding when one of its students, Iben, spent a semester at his design school in New York. She talked in such glowing terms about her experience with D’Wayne Edwards that Helle Graabæk, Head of the Department of Textiles, invited the foot-

wear designer to Denmark. Here he met some designers from ECCO, who similar to Design School Kolding would like to see the students improve their sketching skills. “The idea of going to school is to get a job afterwards, of course, and if there is a company that supports the school and the students you have to give them what the company wants. It will improve the students’ chances of getting a job and also improve the likelihood that the company will support the school going forward.” How did the students react? “They found it difficult. Of course. They were asked to do something they were not used to doing, and if you are not very good at something, you don’t like it. I also think that some had decided ahead of time that they were not good at it and therefore they only joined half-heartedly. But it is a mental barrier that can be overcome, and I gave them a quote from the boxer Mike Tyson: Discipline is doing things you hate as if you love them.” Do you see progress? “There was enormous progress. Even though some students said that they were not good at sketching they are better than they were before, and when ECCO came for a halfway evaluation they were very impressed,” says D’Wayne Edwards, who also tried to improve the students’ self-image. “When it comes to education the American culture is different than the Danish. Our teaching methods to a larger extent mimic work in a company. Although they are students, I treat them as if they are professionals, because that’s what they want to be one day. I try to teach them to accept more responsibility. You cannot be a student and be late to class. You cannot be a student and only work parttime. You have to commit to being professional.” Do you think you will come back to Kolding? “If I am invited. I am very impressed with the school’s collaboration with ECCO. It is highly unusual, and I hope I can contribute to making the collaboration more professional. I would like to teach the students the skills they would learn if they worked for ECCO, and they would hopefully mean that ECCO would hire more designers with degrees from Kolding,” says D’Wayne Edwards. And what is he himself wearing on his feet? That depends on the mood. Today it is New Balance. New as always. “I change shoes every day, and I have no idea how many pairs I have. But it’s a lot.”

ABOUT D’WAYNE EDWARDS Founder and leader of the design school ’Pensole’ in Portland, Oregon, USA At 17, he won a Reebok design competition creating a new version of Air Jordan 2 Was hired as chief designer for NIKE in 2000 Has designed more than 500 athletic, casual, outdoor and dress shoes His shoes won two Olympic medals in 2008 He owns 30 patents

THE DESIGNER WHO

PLAYED DOCTOR

Cancer specialists at Vejle Hospital opened their eyes wide when designer Eva Knutz donned a doctorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s white coat and gave a performance in how they talk to patients BIRGITTE WULFF

Eva Knutz has a tousled haircut and wears gaily coloured clothes. She quickly warms to her subject, and her eyes constantly question whether the listeners have grasped the many points she presents in a flurry of words and gestures. Eva Knutz is a designer and Assistant Professor at Design School Kolding. And she has an ardent desire to talk in a straight line. Neither up nor down. But she also has a touch of an actress hidden under her skin, which becomes evident when she works as a designer. In the autumn of 2014 she and Research Assistant Signe Maarbjerg Thomsen donned doctorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s white coats in order to show doctors and nurses at Vejle Hospital how the patients feel when they are called to difficult patient interviews. The scene was an interview between a doctor and a nurse, half concealed by a computer screen on one side of the table and a patient and a relative on the other side. In the middle of the interview, the doctor and the nurse started whispering to each other, and when the staff saw that, it really opened their eyes. - It was an enormous eye opener for us. Suddenly we realized how inappropriate it was that the nurse is half hidden behind a computer screen with information which is only available to us. It would be the same if the patient and her relatives suddenly started whispering to each other during an interview. It is very thought-provoking, says Jette Ammentorp, who is a professor at Vejle Hospital. Jette Ammentorp is also Head of Research at the hospital, and the study is part of a large research project about patient democracy, which is supposed to reveal the importance of the physical surroundings for the outcome of the conversation, and to what degree the patient should be involved. And the physical framework means a lot for how the patient feels about being included, Eva Knutz concludes. Together with her research colleague she followed a cancer physician at the hospital and listened in on eight different patient interviews. The seating arrangement during the interviews was subsequently drawn by the designers and the situation was played over again and videotaped. Afterwards the scenes were presented to the cancer physician, who did not like an alternative scenario to the desk, where the doctor was supposed to sit next to the patient in a sofa room, which had a cosier atmosphere. - The doctor has many difficult conversations with patients during the day, and she needs there to be a distance between them. It cannot be too close, Eva Knutz explains. The staff and the designers came up with the ideal solution, where the interview takes place in a room, where the information and X-rays are hung on the wall and physician and patient can look at them simultaneously without interference from a computer screen. The designers have finished their study, but it has been so inspiring for the staff that they intend to use the design methods for further research. - It has been exciting for us designers to be doing field studies. Normally we use interviews and questionnaires, but it is much more beneficial to experiment and test for yourself and experience different models. It becomes obvious how far you can go and what works, says Jette Ammentorp. The idea is that the research project Patient Democracy will become the subject of a PhD dissertation, and Eva Knutz has been recommended as advisor for the PhD student. 30

The wig is in the drawer Danish cancer patients receive a wig costing thousands of kroner free of charge, but actually they would prefer help with things like acupuncture, house cleaning or conversations with a philosopher. This is the result of a study by two designers

Cancer patients want close relationships with other people and personal contact rather than smart electronic gadgets. This was revealed in a study by two designers at Vejle Hospital. One of their solutions is a suitcase.

BIRGITTE WULFF

Unlike men, most women cannot imagine a life being bald. That may be one of the reasons why one of the first things women are being paid to buy when they are diagnosed with cancer and have to have chemotherapy is a wig. But once the hair is gone it turns out that it is not a wig women want most. They often wear a knitted cap, a hat or a scarf, and the wig stays at the bottom of the drawer collecting dust. More urgent needs arise that a pretty wig cannot fulfil, and the women prefer to spend the money on house cleaning, acupuncture, a dietician or something entirely different. That is the result of a study which two designers conducted at the cancer ward of Vejle Hospital in relation to the research project Patient Democracy. Eva Knutz and Signe Maarbjerg Thomsen started out analysing how patient interviews between the doctor and the patient turned out, and subsequently they identified patient needs in the course of the treatment. “We developed what in design jargon is called a ‘probe’, a tool – in this case a suitcase – containing 12 different elements, and then we asked the patients to choose which five items were most important to them,” says Eva Knutz, who is a designer and Assistant Professor at Design School Kolding.

Technology, no thank you The patients could choose between concrete values, for example alternative medicine, welfare technology and softer components such as closeness to other people and structure. It was common to all patients that none of them chose welfare technology, i.e. technical aids. Rather they

chose a personal help team, close relationship to other people, and structure. “It was obvious that the patients chose the close and soft values, having the family and friends around them. One woman told us how much it had meant for her to have her dog to come home to. It gave her a feeling of closeness. It was also important to them that there was a structure throughout their illness, that they could plan what their everyday life would look like when they were receiving chemotherapy, because it often meant that they were feeling so sick that they could not participate in regular family activities such as cleaning, cooking and babysitting,” says Eva Knutz.

Conversation about life and death As a cancer patient you are offered a conversation with a psychologist, but not all patients feel that a psychologist is the right person to talk to. The patient finds it difficult to accept that life may soon be over, and he or she needs to share their thoughts about life and death on a more philosophical level than a psychologist is able to offer. Based on conversations with the patients and the things they chose to put in the brown suitcase, the designers developed a “ticket coupon,” a card containing the various options they could choose from (like travelling on the Underground), as part of the last phase of the study: How do we expand Patient Democracy through design? “Our study showed that there need not be a connection between what the system offers the patient and the needs that the patient has when he or she develops cancer. The female cancer patients we met had all received a wig, but none of them used it. It seems somewhat absurd that they had a husband who was worn out from being in charge of the entire household, and in the

drawer they had an unused wig costing thousands of kroner, which they could have used to pay for household help. The question is whether the money allocated to the cancer patients can be spent differently, and this was how our “ticket coupon” is supposed to work,” says Eva Knutz.

Pilot study in a local government When the designers developed the “ticket coupon” they made a rough estimate of what a wig, a psychologist, a cleaning person, and an occasional cook would cost, and the patient would choose if she wanted to spend all the tickets on a psychologist or she rather wanted to pay for an occasional cook. “The problem is, of course, that the health care system is very rigid, and certainly has not become more flexible after the introduction of the new super hospitals. The patients also feel that there is poor interaction between the parties who have to collaborate about their illness, such as municipalities, regions and the hospital. You can say that our project pretends that the entire legislation governing health care has been changed so that patients can move more effortlessly between the different departments,” says Eva Knutz. Eva Knutz and Signe Maarbjerg Thomsen have now concluded their project, and Vejle Hospital has received two papers, a suitcase, and a “ticket coupon”. Eva Knutz hopes that the idea of a more flexible health care system will become reality. “In our experience the patients were very happy with the increased flexibility in their course of treatment and I hope that a local government will lead the way and start a pilot project,” says Eva Knutz.

STINE KRISTIANSEN

Approximately 50% of all raw materials in the cafeteriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s kitchen are organic.

In 2014 employees drank coffee worth DKK 63,000. That equals 347,648 regular cups of coffee.

The schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 3D printer is called Dimension BST 1200es. The machine can print nine different colours. The printer can make very small and very large objects, for example a small ring and a full-size gun.

There are approximately 200 different groups of commodities in Architegn. The most popular item in Architegn is masking tape. About 100 rolls are sold each week in the shop. That equals 5,000 meter of masking tape every week.

In 2014 the employees used 637 Postit blocks, or 356,020 sheets of Post-it.

The kitchen uses 50 kg of meat a week. 32

The kitchen uses 70 kg of flour a week.

The kitchen uses 1,000 kg of fruits and vegetables a week.

If you walk from one end of the school to the other, it will take you 1 minute and 27 seconds and you take 160 steps on your walk.

There are 103 employees at the school, 77 women and 26 men.

The library has about 20,000 books and subscribes to 70 journals. Emotional Design: Why we love (or hate) everyday things is the most borrowed book in the library. The Library has five copies of this book, and in 2014, it has been borrowed 316 times. In 2014, 5,000 books were borrowed from the library.

Using the elevator it takes 24 seconds to go from the basement to the third floor.

If instead you take the 72 steps between the basement and the third floor, it takes 54 seconds.

TO TURN A SUPERTANKER WITH A FAIRY TALE ISOVER was hit by the financial crisis and was facing a menacing future. But the development was turned around when the company had a chance to see itself through designer glasses BIRGITTE WULFF ISOVER

ISOVER and Rockwool have been dominant on the Danish market for insulation materials for many years. But in 2008 the financial crisis hit with a bang, while simultaneously a German competitor pushed into the Danish market and depressed prices to the extent that it affected the bottom line. ISOVER was squeezed substantially and had to seek help in order to turn a threatening development around. The company in Vamdrup decided to participate in a workshop run by the consultants of D2i – Design to innovate – at Design School Kolding, and management and staff were tasked with taking a fresh look at themselves.

The employees and management had to tell ISOVER’s story as a fairy tale, more specifically Hans Christian Andersen’s ‘The Tinderbox’. At the end of the workshop at Design School Kolding, ISOVER’s employees were left with a self-realisation they did not possess when they first arrived. “We realized that we had focused primarily on our products. Previously I rarely visited the building site, but now I go there regularly. Both to talk to the craftsmen and find out what they need, but also to be more accessible, if they want to talk to us,” says Rikke Lildholdt, who is Head of Marketing at the French concern Saint-Gobain, who owns ISOVER today.

“We invited a large contractor to describe how he perceived ISOVER as a supplier, and that was quite a wake-up call for the company’s employees,” says Karen Feder, a designer, who directed ISOVER through the process at Design School Kolding.

Acid test of old attitudes ISOVER is particularly well-known for its soft insulation materials, which can be purchased in bundles in a DIY market, but the company also manufactures many other building materials, for instance roof and wall plates. The problem was that there was very limited collaboration across the departments, so the contractor found it was difficult to buy several different types of insulation materials at once. “It is always healthy to acid test what you think you know, and one of the exercises during the workshop was that the employees should say who their customers were, what challenges they thought the customers were facing, and how ISOVER could give them what they needed. Compared to what the contractor had said, ISOVER suddenly realized that it needed to adjust its procedures,” says Karen Feder.

ISOVER as a fairy tale When designers need to drive a process from A to B it rarely – or rather never – happens through interviews or questionnaires. Usually there are ‘probes’, i.e. tools, or unconventional ideas involved. That was also the case with ISOVER.

Photo: The financial crisis forced the insulation company ISOVER to shift their ground, and they asked a large contractor and a team of designers to take a fresh look at the company. That resulted in a change of course.

Companies that use design earn more Mega Mussel, Y chairs and PH lamps are examples of renowned Danish Design. But design is much more than that, and when a company applies design strategically it helps to improve the result on the bottom line That is the conclusion of a new report showing that companies increase their exports and are far better at adapting to a market in transformation, provided they take advantage of design to develop their organisation, their strategy and their ability to innovate. The report is based on results from the Region of Southern Denmark’s design venture D2i – Design to innovate – in which Design School Kolding was one of the main actors. Designers at Design School Kolding have taught 200 small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) in the use of design. The concrete outcome of the venture is that the number of companies who use design has increased from 54% to 68% in three years, and the school hopes that the number will rise even further. - The big corporations are doing it: Grundfos has definitely started, LEGO and Coloplast are incredible, and Novo Nordisk and Mærsk as well. But how do we get SMEs to join? That may be the biggest challenge Denmark faces, says Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen, Rector at Design School Kolding. Design School Kolding intends to continue its efforts to communicate the knowledge attained through research and design professional development work to more and more companies. The goal is more growth and more jobs.

The Report New-Doing was published in November 2014 and shows that: • Companies that apply design strategically over a 10-year period had a 228 percent higher growth than all other companies in the American S&P 500 Index • Sixty-eight percent of Danish companies have a clear realization that design positively impacts the bottom line • Companies that use design have higher expectations of growth in turnover, employees and export than companies that don’t use design

Why did you get the job?

I work with textiles using a combination of many different materials. They had not seen that before. Usually they do not work with the materials themselves but purchase them from their suppliers. Most of the designers here are either fashion or industrial designers working with form.

What is your job?

Half of the time I am going to spend at ECCO’s factory in Holland where I am going to learn to treat leather so that it acquires different visual expressions, surfaces and structures. In Denmark I am also going to work with different materials and develop product concepts.

How do you use your competencies as a designer?

I use my competencies daily in concept development, design and research – but also the ability to have the courage to leap into something new and juggle several projects simultaneously. Everything comes into play.

Thea Lassen, Textile Designer and a 2014 graduate from Design School Kolding, has landed a job at ECCO in a department, where the projects are so secret that she is not allowed to tell her colleagues about them

OUR DEPARTMENT IS LOCKED, AND THE WINDOWS ARE TINTED

Why did you get the job? I have the courage to do some things that are not strictly according to the book. I can help make the library more personal and a pleasant place to be by using my line and telling stories in an alternative fashion. I was actually the dark horse in the field of applicants, and they were genuinely surprised that “someone like me” was applying for the position.

What is your job? I design workshops, exhibitions, logos, posters and visual communication in general. For example in order to attract attention to the libraries’ knitting cafés I made a lot of miniature balls of yarn with knitting needles and a small note attached describing the arrangement. I hang them in the various towns where the Library Association of Western Himmerland has branches.

How do you use your competencies as a designer? Due to my training I know a lot about visual communication, aesthetics and design methods and how to work creatively. So I use my skills in virtually everything I do.

Q A

The Library Association of Western Himmerland was looking for someone to tell stories in a new and different way. Therefore they hired Pernille Farup Egetoft, Illustrator and 2014 graduate from Design School Kolding

THE DARK HORSE OF THE LIBRARY

KATRINE WORSØE KRISTENSEN

MARIUS KRISTENSEN

HENRIETTE TANG VINKEL

I use the process I learnt during my studies when I start on a new concept. I collect lots of information through research and interviews, and based on them I have ideas which I test until I find the best solution.

I have many tasks. Right now I am working on setting up a small park that informs the citizens about Kolding Spildevand. The specifics are still on the drawing board, but I imagine some benches that are heated with wastewater heat.

What is your job?

How do you use your competencies as a designer?

I have managed to convince Kolding Spildevand about the potential of using design in communication. The first time we worked together was at DesignCamp2013, when our group made an animated film that aimed to educate consumers that they must not throw cotton swabs, condoms, etc. that do not come from the body into the toilet. Subsequently we agreed that I should make my graduation project with them. The goal of the project was to show the citizens of the town the enormous work Kolding Spildevand does to keep the city running. When I finished my studies, they wanted to hire me so I could continue my work.

Why did you get the job? Q

Birkir Guðmundsson, Interaction Designer and a 2014 graduate from Design School Kolding is the first designer ever to be employed by Kolding Spildevand A/S (Kolding Waste Water company), where his job is to improve communication

HERE I AM THE EXPERT IN DESIGN

What projects are the most difficult?

To understand one’s own role in a large company like ECCO. The department I am in, for example, is locked, because what we work with is secret – also for other departments. You need a key card to enter the door, and the windows are tinted. It’s a little strange when you are used to sharing everything when you went to school.

What is the coolest experience you have had?

The freedom. I had definitely not expected that there is such a lot of room for being creative and that we can just go full speed ahead and follow our ideas. But of course there is responsibility when deadlines have to be met, and the projects can be extensive. It may be a little scary because I want to do the best I can.

What are your dreams for the future?

I can easily see myself working for ECCO for many years and being responsible for some of the big projects. This is a company where people are traditionally employed for 15 or 20 years at a time, so I hope I can be here for a long time.

A To work with something that makes other people happy and is meaningful to myself as well.

What are your dreams for the future?

What is the coolest experience you have had?

Q I had a success experience when I found the perfect partner for our new interior decoration project. Here I thought I had come to the right place. After the meeting my boss gave me a high five because I had found such a good solution to the assignment.

Those where I am free to do whatever I want, where I have to illustrate and think in original terms – and may not know how it is going to end up. There is a lot of freedom here and trust in the employees. I play a big role in defining my own position.

What projects are most fun?

Q When I am in the middle of creating a new concept and am testing my ideas on others to see how they work.

What is the coolest experience you have had? The freedom to work on my projects. Until I have to present them to the management, I am allowed to do everything needed to get a result that I am satisfied with. I am the first and only designer here, so you can say that I am sort of an expert in my field.

What are your dreams for the future? I would really like to continue to create new communication platforms for companies.

Q A

What projects are most fun?

SHOP WITH A CHIP IN YOUR CLOTHES In the future, elderly people with difficulty remembering will be able to shop independently. This is a result of one of several business concepts developed by design students at DesignCamp2014 geared towards the welfare sector HENRIETTE TANG VINKEL KATRINE WORSØE KRISTENSEN SØREN SIEBUHR

This and coming generations are going to live longer and longer. Futurologists call the situation a ‘silver tsunami’ that is going to wash over Denmark, Europe, in fact a large segment of the developed world. With the increase in the senior population new needs and also new business opportunities arise. That was the starting point of this year’s DesignCamp at Design School Kolding, where Danish and international design students, companies, designers and researchers met. The theme was the welfare sector focusing on the elderly. Similar to previous years, the topic was discussed through conference days, realistic case studies and an intense design process, which resulted in different concepts based on 10 different companies’ know-how. “The students question what the companies do and how they do it. They also show them a new vision of the future with new business plans, strategies, products and services,” Design Consultant Trine Engelbrecht Jensen explains, who was the lead coordinator of the camp. Some of the companies participating in DesignCamp2014 were &hype, KMD, Frøslev Træ and Mungo Park; companies that are usually not involved in the welfare sector and whose products are very diverse. They were presented with prototypes of new, lucrative business models developed by some 50 international design students.

New business opportunities The students were tasked with assisting the companies in entering the welfare sector by utilizing

FACTS - DESIGNCAMP Since 2009, the DesignCamp has been an annual recurring event at Design School Kolding. It is internationally recognised for successfully establishing a space for companies, design students, researchers, and designers to come together and engage in the creation of new concepts based on design knowledge and the knowhow of the involved companies. An open conference, real-life cases and an intense design process are some of the ingredients. This year’s DesignCamp was called ’Welfare as Good Business’ and focused on the possibility of companies with no history in the welfare industry to tap into the market generating innovative solutions for the elderly, new possibilities and bigger revenues. DesignCamp2014 was organised by D2i - Design to innovate.

the companies’ existing competencies and technologies. Combining the knowledge and experience from one area with the needs from another area is called ‘sidestepping’. An example of one of the camp’s completed concepts is a mobile app, which transmits shopping lists to a small chip which elderly people can carry on their clothes. The concept was developed by a group of design students from South Africa, India and Denmark in collaboration with the software company &hype. “Previously we had not realized the enormous business potential posed by senior citizens as a target group, but this project has enabled us to focus on this segment,” says &hype partner Mikkel Overgaard, who emphasises that the project fits well into the company’s production of mobile apps to groups such as retail customer clubs.

On the way to market? The &hype concept is that relatives of elderly people with difficulty remembering can write a shopping list and special needs into a profile which is included in the mobile phone as an app. Via a small chip ‘disguised’ as e.g. a brooch, the information is passed on to the sales staff in the shop the elderly person is visiting. Thus, both parties are certain that the necessary items are being purchased. According to Mikkel Overgaard the solution and the prototype developed by the students is so comprehensive and promising that &hype is studying what it takes to realize it. “I am really excited about the idea of the chip. But physical parts are a new area for us, so we have to find the right manufacturers to work with.”

AFFILIATE PROFESSORS The happy professor Anders Morgenthaler joined Design School Kolding as an affiliate professor with a lively retrospect of his life and the mistakes he has made In the autumn of 2014 Anders Morgenthaler gave his inaugural lecture at Design School Kolding titled ‘Humour and Seriousness’, and to the amusement of the many guests he drew generously on the many mistakes he has made in his life.

Mads Quistgaard Born in 1974. Mads Quistgaard is affiliated with the teaching and research departments at several institutions of higher learning. He has been awarded numerous prizes for his work. Trained as an architect and with a Master’s in design from The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation, KADK.

Filmmaker Anders Morgenthaler has a Bachelor’s degree in interaction design and can now add the honourable title ‘Affiliate Professor’ at his Alma Mater.

Use your head The motivation for the appointment mentioned that Anders Morgenthaler was appointed affiliate professor due to his high level of professionalism, his outstanding level of activity and his eminent sense of entrepreneurship. In his speech, he attacked the concept of ‘normality’ and had a strong appeal to the many students in the audience who had come to listen to the amusing professor. “Practice being independent. Both through the financial mess and broken love. The only thing that is certain in life is what is inside your head. Find out from the inside what you really want to do,” said Andres Morgenthaler.

Anders Morgenthaler Born in 1972. Well-known for his cartoon Wulffmorgenthaler published in the daily Politiken and more than 200 newspapers in the USA. Anders Morgenthaler has also published a large number of books and directed several films. Has a Bachelor’s degree in interaction design from Design School Kolding and trained as an animation director at the National Film School of Denmark.

Simona Maschi Born in 1970. Co-founder, Partner and Director of Copenhagen Institute of Interactive Design (CIID). Completed a Master’s degree in architecture and a PhD in industrial design, both from Politecnico in Milan. She was an associate professor at the now defunct design school Ivrea in Italy. Since 2006 Simona Maschi has been head of CIID, an internationally renowned centre for education, research and consultancy services within the area of interaction design with customers such as Intel, Toyota, Novo Nordisk and A.P. Møller Mærsk.

Jesper Kongshaug

Rebekka Bay Born in 1969. Creative Director and Executive Head of Global Design at GAP. Rebekka Bay was behind the successful development of H&M’s popular brand COS. In 2011 she was hired by Bruuns Bazaar, and three years later she left that company to work for GAP in New York. Trained as a fashion designer at Design School Kolding.

Henrik Vibskov Born in 1972. Fashion Designer and Artist. His garments are sold all over the world, and he has shops in Copenhagen and New York. Henrik Vibskov teaches at Central Saint Martins in London, Instituto Eropeo Di Design in Madrid and the Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Belgium. He has exhibited his art at MoMA in New York, Palais de Tokyo in Paris, The Kennedy Center in Washington and recently at the Art Gallery Gammel Strand in Copenhagen. Educated as a fashion designer from Central Saint Martins in London. The only Scandinavian fashion designer who is an official participant in the Men’s Fashion Week in Paris.

Born in 1956. Lighting Designer. The talent behind numerous large and wellknown theatre and architectural lighting projects, among them Wagner’s “The Ring Cycle” at the Royal Danish Theatre and the Jutland Opera and also the lighting display at the latest version of Denmark’s National Aquarium, The Blue Planet. Became known internationally for his scene lighting for the performance “Operation ORFEO.” Has designed top lighting for the new extension of Kastrup Airport. Has received Den Danske Lyspris (the Danish lighting prize), Nordisk Lyspris (the Nordic lighting prize) and the Reumert prize for Hotel Proforma’s performance ”War sum up”.

Christien Meindertsma Born in 1980. Designer and Artist. In 2009 she received an INDEX Award for the project ”Pig 05949” in which she examined what each individual part of a pig was used for and in what products we, the consumers, meet the pig. Christien Meindertsma’s work has been exhibited at MoMA and Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York and at V&A in London. Trained as a designer at Design Academy Eindhoven in Holland.

Ejnar Truelsen Born in 1953. Trained at Design School Kolding and since 1971 Chief Designer at ECCO. Is behind ECCO’s first design and sales breakthrough, the shoe brand JOKE, which hit the Danish footwear market in 1978. Ejnar Truelsen has developed ECCO’s logo, and the company was the first in the world to print the company logo in the rubber sole of the shoe.

Mads Nipper Born in 1966. CEO and Group President at Grundfos. Mads Nipper has an MSc in Economics and Business Administration and was CEO of LEGO for many years. He is responsible for LEGO being more than a toy today. He was head of production lines such as LEGO City, Bionicle, LEGO Friends and Ninjago. Grundfos is a global leader in advanced pumping systems and a trendsetter within water technology.

DESIGN OF

accessories The footwear, jewellery and fur industries have long been asking for an accessories programme. In 2014 the first 12 students started the new programme at Design School Kolding CHARLOTTE MELIN KATRINE WORSØE KRISTENSEN

The government has allocated DKK five million for the new programme, which in five years will have room for 60 students. “For several years Design School Kolding, with strong backing from the industry, has worked on establishing a new programme in Accessory Design,” says the school’s rector Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen. It means that Design School Kolding can now offer an accredited programme in Accessory Design and hence meet the industry’s need for highly educated creative employees who can assure continued development going forward. “New opportunities are opening up these days for using designers to create innovation. The innovation offered by designers draws consumers into the development process and meets consumers where they are, using an artistic approach. It would be exciting, for example to give Accessory Design students the assignment to design hearing aids, shoes for feet with bunions or elegant oxygen bags for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients,” says Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen.

Fashion – not disease Today many of the personal aids within the welfare sector are aids where the citizens see themselves as patients. By using design as a lever, many of these aids could be transformed into smart accessories which point to fashion, diversity, the future – rather than to illness, frailty and retirement. Design School Kolding’s research and artistic development work within welfare design will support the development within this field. The programme will set accessory design into play in relation to the school’s divided knowledge base: Artistic development work, research and practice. The programme will combine craftsmanship with design methods and design history, design-driven innovation, and business knowledge.

The economic background The accessories industry, which consists of jewellery, shoes and fur, is an increasingly important part of the entire fashion industry. Many Danish fashion companies have included accessories in their collections, some firms produce only accessories – e.g. jewellery and shoes. ECCO is the world’s second largest footwear producer. Last year Kopenhagen Fur launched a new company, OH, which manufactures and sells fur accessories. The brand is selling well in Asia, and the company has opened its first shop in Denmark. “Jewellery is another example of the growth potential within accessories. Denmark is the country in the world that sells most jewellery per capita. The jewellery industry has become a vital export industry with the whole of Scandinavia as its domestic market. But Danish jewellery also cuts an impressive profile outside Scandinavia and has good opportunities for growth considering the expanding purchasing power of the middle class, not least in the BRIC countries,” concludes Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen.

PRIZES AND AWARDS MARIANNE BAGGESEN HILGER

2014

Ilva Design Award – 2nd place

Design Awards 2014

Carl Emil Jacobsen, Daniel Kowal-Andersen

Christian Troels

ILVA’s design competition focuses on spotting and developing new Nordic design in collaboration with design talent and architects from all over Denmark. The design partners Carl Emil and Daniel, both former students of Design School Kolding, took an impressive second place for their Stik Nord stool, based on Nordic materials and traditional craftsmanship and workmanship processes.

With his lamp Mutatio Christian Troels was announced the winner of Design Awards 2014 in the category Lamp of the Year. The lamp is a further development of his graduation project from Design School Kolding in 2012. Since then Christian has worked on developing the project in collaboration with Le Klint – an effort for which he has now received great recognition. Design Awards is sponsored by BO BEDRE, Bolig Magasinet and Costume Living.

DANSK Design Talent – Magasin Prisen

Adobe Nordic New Creative Talent Award

Mark Kenly Domino Tan

Sidsel Wittendorf Sørensen, Bitten Fangel Nielsen, Louise From, Sveinung Sudbø, Carl Frederik Angell

Dansk Børneillustrations Biennale (Danish Children’s Illustration Awards) Pauline Drasbæk

DANSK Design Talent – the Magasin Award focuses on promoting important designers of tomorrow. In 2014 it was awarded to former Design School Kolding student Mark Kenly Domino Tan. He won the prestigious award for a mini collection created for the female duo Darkness Falls in collaboration with the Danish clothes brand Baum und Pferdgarten. The award was accompanied by a check for DKK 500,000.

The goal of Adobe Nordic New Creative Talent Award is to assemble young creative designers from all over Scandinavia and celebrate the most promising talents under the age of 28. Design School Kolding has provided five of the ten winners in 2014. Sidsel, Bitten and Louise graduated from the Graphic Design department in 2012 and 2013 respectively, whereas Sveinung and Carl Frederik graduated from Communication Design in 2014.

The first prize at Dansk Børneillustrations Biennale 2014 was awarded to Pauline Drasbæk, who graduated as an illustrator from Design School Kolding in 2014. The theme of this prestigious competition was children’s right to a safe and secure childhood; in preparation for the competition Pauline worked with Mødrehjælpen (organisation to assist young mothers) and Bibiana (an organisation to promote art and creativity in children). The prize was accompanied by a check for DKK 25,000.

Årets Bedste Bogarbejde (Best Book Project of the Year) Josephine Jensen The committee for Årets Bedste Bogarbejde (best book project of the year) awarded Design School Kolding’s graduation catalogue from 2013 as Årets Bedste Bogarbejde in the category Catalogue. The graduation catalogue was designed by Illustrator Josephine Jensen, who graduated from Design School Kolding in 2014. The prize resulted in an exciting time for the catalogue, taking it to The Royal Library and book fairs in Stockholm, Frankfurt am Main and Leipzig where it entered into the competition for The Most Beautiful Book in the World.

Wayfinding, Middelfart Sygehus

Shoe Design Fueled by Feeling

The Laboratory for Social Inclusion at Design School Kolding has completed an artistic development project about wayfinding at Middelfart Hospital resulting in a number of recommendations.

The book shows the results of a four-week workshop at Design School Kolding in collaboration with ECCO in which students from 7th semester Fashion and Textile Design and Industrial Design were tasked with designing three different shoes: One wild and artistic for the catwalk, one mild and commercial shoe, which might be found in an ordinary shoe shop, and one shoe in between the wild and the mild. The projects reveal the creative potential in avoiding rationality and feeding the design process straight from the powerful sources of intuition and emotion. Designer and instructor Michael Frederiksen is the brains behind the book.

Design as an Enabler for Sustainable Solutions The publication describes the school’s research strategy and practice based on PhD and research projects and collaborations with the business community, the public sector and numerous international research networks.

DesignCamp2014 Under the heading Welfare as Good Business this year’s international DesignCamp at Design School Kolding directed the spotlight on companies’ opportunities to move into other fields focusing on the welfare sector. The book describes the open conference days, the intense design process and not least the result: the concrete concepts developed by Danish and international design students based on the collaborating companies’ know-how. This year DesignCamp was organised by D2i – Design to innovate.

The High ways and Byways to Radical Innovation Through a mixture of case studies and examples of collaboration between designers and users, the book describes why and how design processes can create radical innovation. The book is published in a partnership between Poul Rind Christensen and Sabine Junginger from Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Entrepreneurship and Relationship Management, University of Southern Denmark and Design School Kolding, respectively.

Graduation Catalogue 2014 With 82 candidates the class of 2014 was the largest ever to graduate from Design School Kolding. The catalogue gives a brief and concise description of the graduates’ specific competencies and skills under the heading I can. I know. I am.

Eleven recommendations to those of you who are embarking on welfare design The report describes complications and successes in the introduction of welfare technology, barriers and opportunities, innovation and not least ways to ease and improve the implementation. The report is addressed to those who are going to be involved in hands-on execution as well as to planners and politicians. The report is prepared by the Laboratory for Social Inclusion. 44

CONNECTING PEOPLE THROUGH DESIGN

By Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen Rector, Design School Kolding

Projekt Cross Roads The report is prepared by the Laboratory for Social Inclusion at Design School Kolding and describes the project Cross Roads. The project is designed to promote the community spirit among children and young adults and foster good relations across cultural divides in the towns of Fourfeldt, Ådal and Sædding. The project is a collaborative effort with Health and Social Services in the municipality of Esbjerg.

Designing Welfare and Well-being in the 21st Century

The Tube Magazine 2014 For the third year running, Design School Kolding presented the exhibition concept The Tube at the annual design event in Milan. Seven young, talented designers, recent graduates of Design School Kolding, were matched with seven Danish design enterprises in order to create new design projects with an artistic dimension as well as a commercial potential, in a unique collaboration venture.

In this publication rector of Design School Kolding, Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen, demonstrates the value of design in developing better welfare and more efficient welfare technology. Based on a number of case studies from Design School Kolding, Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen reflects on the value of design in a societal context and contributes her insights and recommendations.

Designing Relationships

Spaces and Relationships The project Spaces and Relationships analyses and develops scenarios for multi-functional arrival halls in future community cultural centres, so that space and relations coincide. Spaces and Relationships is prepared by the Laboratory for Social Inclusion at Design School Kolding in collaboration with Vejle Municipality, the Vejle libraries and Sønderborg Library. The report was written by the Laboratory for Social Inclusion.

New-Doing When a company uses design strategically, it contributes to improved results on the bottom line. That is the conclusion of this new report which shows that if companies use design to develop their organisation, strategy and ability to innovate, they also expand their export and are much better at adapting to a market in transformation. The report is based on results from the Region of Southern Denmark’s design venture D2i – Design to innovate, in which Design School Denmark has been one of the key actors.

The report describes the project Designing Relationships, which won the KL innovation prize in 2013. Using design as a tool the project has improved social relationships for a group of vulnerable citizens and cooperation across professions and organisations. The project was carried out in collaboration between Design School Kolding, Vejle Municipality and The National Board of Health and Welfare.

IT LOOKS ORDINARY BUT IT IS HIGH TEC With assistance from designers in Sustainable Welfare, Falck has designed an exhibition flat for handicapped citizens – but it looks ordinary. That’s what the users want KIRSTEN BOHL

“When you enter the flat it looks like any other flat. The furniture is from Ikea, like we all have,” says Claus Sørensen, Marketing Director for Falck Hjælpemidler (a branch of the international rescue company focusing on aids for the handicapped).

want to make those needs visible. For example, one study showed that old people strongly prefer a personal alarm in the form of a bracelet, like the one young people wear at rock festivals, rather than the one they have now: An alarm. An aid.

But the flat is much more than an ordinary home. It is equipped with every possible modern technology that can help handicapped people live as good and independent a life as possible.

Closest bus stop

The flat is located next to Falck Hjælpemidler’s office in Allerød. It is open to therapists and people with special needs for equipment, to politicians and planners – and it came about in a fruitful collaborative effort between Falck Hjælpemidler and the project Sustainable Welfare from the Laboratory at Design School Kolding. Some of the designers’ contributions are customer experiences, for example that people with special needs do not

Falck Hjælpemidler’s managing director Jens Lunn says that they joined the Sustainable Welfare project in order to get help with the design and layout of the flat. “We are very good at executing; we are very good at making decisions and carrying them out. But what we do is not necessarily very well thought through. The fact that we had the opportunity to run some workshops and ask each other a lot of questions about how this flat was going to work, that was really valuable. What should it look like? What should the content be? How should it be

facilitated? Suddenly we started talking about forms of transportation, the nearest bus stop, what colours should we select, how should the access be? We had not thought of any of those things, we had not been in that world before we started here, and now we were suddenly faced with totally different worries,” he says. Occupational Therapist Lise Lotte Jensen has been in charge of the practical design of the flat, and both she and Claus Sørensen appreciate the help of the designers in integrating the users in a preliminary study. “They made us work in a totally different manner from what we had previously done, and we are convinced that the design methods we have learnt here will be a part of our daily tools,” says Claus Sørensen.

Y CHNOLOGY

PHD DISSERTATIONS Shaping Memory – Theoretical and Practical Perspectives on Memory in Italian and Danish Jewellery Design PhD dissertation by Sisse Tanderup

FACTS ABOUT SUSTAINABLE WELFARE AND DISRUPTIVE SUSTAINABILITY Over a period of nine months, seven very different companies have been working on design methods and processes in order to create a sustainable future – with growth as a lever. The overall theme is to create future scenarios based on each individual company’s reality, latitude and visions and initiate actions that point to a sustainable future. The goal of the project has been that all seven companies should be able to use design methods and tools themselves once the design team from Design School Kolding leaves. Some of the methods are developed specifically for the companies. They will be presented in a report that will be published in the spring of 2015, so that the collected knowledge will be available for all interested companies.

There is a lack of research in the use of the theme of memory as an important aspect of the meaning of design, particularly jewellery design. Sisse Tanderup redresses that deficiency in her PhD dissertation. The main objective of the project was to examine the dimension of memory in Italian and Danish jewellery design after 1945, an element that has become more complex in our time than previously. The main emphasis is on the Italian design tradition, since it has a culture of working with the theme of memory in the design process.

With Aesthetics in Mind… A Study of Participatory Design as a Framework for Considering and Evaluating the Aesthetics of Knowledge and Learning Environments PhD dissertation by Tine Ebdrup Tine Ebdrup completed her industrial PhD sponsored by the Danish company Rambøll. The goal of the project was to develop methods, techniques and tools for involvement of customers in the decision about the aesthetic dimension of space in learning and knowledge environments. The driving force behind the PhD project has been a desire to utilise the potential of aesthetics as a means of promoting the users’ identification with a learning and knowledge environment.

Reconceptualising Understandings of Agency within the Designing of Demand-side Management in a Future Electricity SMART Grid PhD dissertation by Louise Buch Løgstrup The main argument of the dissertation is that existing ways of designing a future electricity SMART grid in a Scandinavian energy company are detached from the social reality and based on outmoded marketing and engineering system paradigms. Louise Buch Løgstrup argues that a future energy structure is much more complex and requires a new understanding of relations between the energy company and private energy end users. Partner: DONG Energy Powers A/S

The Daily Selection. What We Know about What We Wear PhD dissertation by Else Skjold Through her research, Else Skjold has helped to develop ‘the wardrobe method’, in which she studies ordinary people’s clothing practices. Surprisingly enough her interviews with both men and women reveal that it is emotions that guide our purchases, not the desire to be in on that latest fashion. The dissertation was created in collaboration with the footwear manufacturer ECCO, Fashion Designer Mads Nørgaard and instructors at Design School Kolding.

Values Values: Social inclusion, sustainability, cultural diversity.

Vision: Design School Kolding is an international talent workshop for the cultivation of Danish Design.

Goal: Design School Kolding is a self-governing institution of further learning under the auspices of the Ministry of Higher Education and Science. It educates designers at Bachelor, Masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and PhD levels based on the triple knowledge base: Research, artistic development work and practice. The Bachelor course is in Danish, the Masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s course is in English.

Mission: Sustainable Futures is the goal for the educational, research and artistic development work at Design School Kolding. We give practical examples of how design can be used as an aesthetic and strategic tool in the change process in which society, business and democracy find themselves. We develop holistic solutions which allow more people to develop their full potential: to be creative.

Strategic focus areas: Sustainability, welfare, play.

Study programmes: Industrial Design, Communication Design, Fashion and Textile Design, and Accessory Design.

Relationships Good relationships with public and private partners are vital for Design School Kolding, which collaborates closely with:

IN 2015 YOU CAN ALSO FIND US HERE: The Education Fair in Aarhus

14 - 15 January

The Education Fair in Copenhagen

19 - 20 January

Copenhagen Fashion Week, talent competition Designers’ Nest

30 January

Open House for prospective students at Design School Kolding

26 February

SIDeR Research conference for and by Master’s students at SDU and Design School Kolding

27 - 28 March

The exhibition The Tube during Milan Design Week

14 - 19 April

Graduation exhibition at Koldinghus

4 June

Cumulus conference ’Virtuous Circle’ in Milan

3 - 7 June

People’s Meeting on Bornholm

11 - 14 June

Fashion show for graduates at Børsen, the Royal Exchange

ultimo June

The research conference Design Research Society in Chicago

28 June – 1 July

Kolding Cultural Night 9 October Tongji University in Shanghai - exhibition

October/November

Knust University in Ghana - exhibition

October/November

International DesignCamp at Design School Kolding

November

Design School Kolding’s Christmas Bazaar December

EDITORS Charlotte Melin (chief editor)

This is an extraordinary annual report about Design School Kolding in 2014, which in journal format relates new and unexpected stories about what design can do. Print run 2,000 (DA) Print run 1,000 (EN)

PUBLICATION Designskolen Kolding

PRINT Rosendahls

Birgitte Wulff

designskolenkolding.dk

rosendahls.dk

Marianne Baggesen Hilger

Ågade 10

Oddesundvej 1

Katrine Worsøe Kristensen

6000 Kolding

6715 Esbjerg N

Henriette Tang Vinkel

76 30 11 00

76 10 11 12

Kenneth Ley Milling

dk@designskolenkolding.dk

post@rosendahls.dk

Kirsten Bohl

PHOTOGRAPHY

FONTS Runda

PAPER Cover

Katrine Worsøe Kristensen

Runda Light

250 g. Silk matting covered with

Victor Jones

Runda Light Italic

high gloss laminating

Anita Graversen

Runda Normal

Anders Faurby

Runda Normal Italic

140 g. uncoated offset

Christian Lorentzen

Runda Medium

130 g. gloss

COVER Søren Siebuhr

ILLUSTRATION

Runda Medium Italic Runda Bold

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)

Runda Bold Italic

is an international not for-profit,

Runda Black

organisation established in 1993 to

Minion Pro

Søren Siebuhr

Minion Pro Regular

Stine Kristiansen

Minion Pro Italic

DESIGN Kristian Lykke Larsen

TRANSLATION

Content

promote responsible management of the world’s forests.

Minion Pro Bold

The EU Ecolabel is a voluntary inter-

Minion Pro Bold Italic

national organisation that promotes environmental sustainability and helps the consumer identify products and services that have a reduced

Helle Raheem

environmental impact throughout

Marianne Baggesen Hilger

their life cycle.