Nordic Living no5 - Manifesto, Summer Party, interviews with our designers and more

NORDIC g in Liv ISSUE NO.5 | JUNE 2015

The important things in life

Earlier this spring, I had the fortune to spend a month working on Morocco. It was a wonderful opportunity, not only to enjoy the warm weather but it gave us a chance to focus on the company in a new way. We spent a lot of time thinking about the company, and why we do the things we do and why we are so passionate about it. It is not about the money (even though a longterm sustainable business is important for every entrepreneur and business owner). Our passion is supporting our designers as small business owners, and making the design industry a little bit better.

After a few brainstorming sessions, it evolved into a manifesto!

We got so excited and decided we wanted to share this with everyone, and are also very happy that our designers are joining us in this. Now that we’re presenting the Manifesto for the first time, they have created a collection of beautiful products, all inspired by our manifesto. That makes me so happy and proud, and I hope you will feel the same. Welcome!

Maria Richardsson Founder and CEO of Nordic Design Collective Ps. As always, we love to hear your what you think about our work! Tell us through social media or send us an e-mail. We want to hear it all - the good, the bad and the ugly.

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CONTENT Our Manifesto

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Trend: Summer Party Presenting: Wis Collection

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Interview: Meet Sanna Wieslander Trend: Flowers & Greens

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Meet the designer: Memories of Sweden A day in the life of: Lina Johansson The winners of our Photo Competition

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Nordic Living is a magazine created by Nordic Design Collective, all rights reserved. www.nordicdesigncollective.com | info@nordicdesigncollective.com

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OUR MANIFESTO FOR LIFE, DESIGN AND BUSINESS Earlier this spring, we sat down and tried to put words on our passion, why we are so committed in helping the designers we work with and why we do the things we do.

It is not about the money. For us, it is about supporting our designers as small business owners, and making the design industry a little bit better.

After a few brainstorming sessions, we started to see a pattern. A few sessions later, it had grown to a manifesto!

more general point of view, and we got so excited we wanted to share this with everyone!

Read more about our thoughts online. You will also find a collection beautiful products created by our designers inspired by the manifesto, as well as some free downloads to inspire you.

It is a short text about what we think is important in life, design and business from a

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Trend

SUMMER PARTY The season for parties is here!

Weddings, graduations or any other reason will do - just get friends and family together for a joyful day!

Styling and photo: Maria Richardsson, assisting: Angelica Olofsson/Formfröken.

Summer parties in the Nordics are so often related to nature in some way. We try to hold outdoor parties, to make the most of our short summer, but you always have to prepare for cold weather. Bring a knitted sweater or a warm scarf in soft wool to keep warm during the cool summer nights.

A lot of textile in different way is also a great way to create a happy and friendly setting. Go for a colour

scheme for your party and add cushions and blankets in shades of that colour. Adding a lot of other natural elements also helps, like plants and flowers.

But above all, don’t forget to enjoy the party! The most important thing to remember is that the guests are there to meet with you and to have fun. Things don’t have to be picture perfect, keep it simple and have fun!

Hanging vase 1&Bird by Eva Levin, Pedestal Flora by Wis Collection, poster Harmony

by Details by M, scented candle Ö by Skandinavisk, pots Graymix by Camilla Engdahl, totebag Kotten by jollygoodfellow, alpaca scarf Hudson Deco Dusty Blue and iPad cover/clutch Garance by Aperie, Concrete lightholders by Lagnöviken, pillow Dusty Deco by Aperie.

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Left: Hanging vase 1&Bird by Eva Levin.

Below: Pennant Banner by SB Studio, Pedestal Flora by Wis Collection, Coppercandle Nr 5

by Lagnöviken, pots Graymix by Camilla Engdahl, scented candles Ro by Skandinavisk, Concrete candle holder by Lagnöviken, cuttongboard Rutan by Wallmark formstudio.

Right: Pedestal Flora by Wis Collection, poster Harmony by Details by M, scented candles Ö

by Skandinavisk, pots Graymix by Camilla Engdahl.

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as de i k c i 4 qu

TO GET IN THE PARTY MOOD

Put candy on a stick If you have the time, dip marshmallows in melted chocolate and cover in sprinkles. If not - just put them on a stick! It feels more festive in an instance!

Make flags for your cupcakes We used the Pennant Banner from SB Studio to create flags, but you could also just cut triangles from any coloured paper and stick to a tooth pick.

Use lots of candles and flowers Light as many candles as you can, and fill the table with flowers of any kind - flower pots, roses or wild flowers from your garden.

Add some bubbly Champagne, cider or sparkling water - anything goes. Just make sure to serve it in a champagne glass, and you’ll get in the mood!

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Meet the designer

WIS COLLECTION Lisa Widén and Anna Wallin Irinarchos, the talented designers behind Wis Design Studio, has been in business for a while, doing work for other brands like Ikea, David Design and Klong. As they are now launching their very first collection under their own name, we are so proud to be able to feature them at Nordic Design Collective! The collection is right on target for the new green trend with terracotta pots, plants and succulent in strong green colours.

Tell us about your background!

We are Lisa Widén and Anna Wallin Irinarchos, product designers and founders of Wis Design Studio. For more than ten years, we have been working as freelance designers for several kinds of home furniture companies.

What’s the story behind your brand?

Wis Collection is our first very own collection of home interior accessories, all designed by us. Our first product to be launched is the flowerpot holder FLORA, created to fit perfectly to the traditional terracotta pot. It brings the flower up towards the light, and can also be used upside down as a plant support for luxuriant flowers.

What inspires you to create?

Everything from our ordinary everyday lifes.

We like to bring some poetry to the objects that surround us.

What made you decide to start your own company, and what do you like most about it?

We started Wis Collection as a platform for us to offer our own design straight to the customers. It gives us an opportunely to try out our design ideas, to be free to experiment, and to produce smaller limited editions in our own name.

What are your plans and dreams for the future?

Hopefully, Wis Collection will slowly but surely expanded with more unique interior design products, so stay tuned for more upcoming news!

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Meet the designer SANNA WIESLANDER

“I COULDN’T IMAGINE THAT YOU COULD MAKE DRAWINGS FOR A LIVING. I LOVE IT!” Sanna Wieslander is one of our most popular designers, well-known for her beautiful and popular illustrations of animalpeople, like the Swan Lady and Hipster Goat. But it is only a few years since she started to take her art seriously.

Text and photo: Maria Richardsson

“I’ve always been drawing, ever since I was a little kid, and my parents are also very artistic. But none of them work in the creative field and I never saw this as a future career” Sanna tells us when we meet in her studio in Gothenburg, where she moved about six years ago.

When coming here she also decided to focus more on her artistic side to see what would happen. She went to two

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art schools with different orientations, and that gave her a way to learn and try different techiques and really explore her art. At Gothenburg Art School, the animalpeople she is now so well-known for was the result of her graduation project and it all started with finding a picture in a fashion magazine of a girl in a zebra dress. This later became the picture Party Animal.

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“Creating my pictures is a long process. I’m inspired by people I see around me, it can really be anyone. The postman, someone in the grocery line, people waiting for the bus... Watching their different personalities and quirks can really get my inspiration going, and I start to figure out who they would be as an animal. Sort of like the saying of how dog and their owners are so alike, but the other way around. This process can take several weeks, and after I got the idea ready, the drawing takes about 10 hours”, Sanna tells us. She has always been very careful about the details in her work, and in her previous jobs she often didn’t have the time to make it as perfect as she wanted to. “I’m so happy that I finally can put as much love in the details as I want to” she says.

Many of her previous jobs has been very social, and this was probably the biggest change for her when starting her own business and doing this full time. It is a big change to be your own boss, but she is starting to get used to her new life - and she’s loving it! “As a girl, I couldn’t imagine that you could actually make drawings for a living. It is still hard to believe, but I’m really loving everything about this! There are a lot to learn when starting a new business, and it was scary at first, but now I actually enjoy not knowing what the future will bring. One thing lead to another, and as long as you are open to new opportunities I’m sure that everything will be alright” she says with a big smile.

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Last spring, the flower mandalas were all over Instagram. One of the instagrammers who started the trend, Anna Grundberg, is also one of our designers. She created a special mandala for us, framing her print “Of Love�. Photo by Anna Grundberg.

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Trend

FLOWERS & GREENS Flowers, greens and nature is never wrong, and the trend is as strong as ever. Endulge in posters of delicate flowers, scented candles with a fragrance of the woods or jewellery inspired by birch trees.

From top left: posters A Walk In The Woods by Lina Johansson, Summer Night by Anna Handell Montage, Botanica 03 by Wood + Ink, Ancient Blossom No.2 by Details by M, tray Mandala by Kajsa Rolfsson, bracelet Birch by JohannaN, notebook Peacock & Figs by Lisa Edoff, scented candle Skog by Skandinavisk.

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Meet the designer

MEMORIES OF SWEDEN Feeling at home and belonging to a group is one of our fundamental needs. But how do you show your love for your home country in the best way, without turning to flags and their colours? Wearing a stunning piece of jewellery is a very stylish way of keeping Sweden close to you – every day or on special occasions. And it is all thanks to Ibolya Vass, the designer behind the brand Memories of Sweden.

Tell us about your background!

My name is Hungarian and I am born in Transylvania. When I was 6 years old we moved to Småland in Sweden. Since 4 years I live now in Malmö but work here and there.

For as long as I can remember I have been extremely curious and always liked to create and change things. I loved to fix problems and always had a range of different solutions.

Travelling also inspires me enormously.

All the details and different ways to solve problems is fascinating.

Do you have a dream project?

My dream is to work as a designer with a wide range of products and projects. For example, my Memories of Sweden concept is ideal to apply, for example, on The Nobel Dinner tableware. Or on give aways for companies with connections to Sweden.

For four years I have studied design and have a BFA. During my last year, I started my own business, Vass Form. Directly after the design studies I studied another year of entrepreneurship.

Where do you find inspiration?

I like problems! Every problem is a possibility for a new product or service. I collect problems that occur in my everyday life in a book as inspiration for future projects.

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A day in the life of

LINA JOHANSSON Multi-talented Lina Johansson is well-known for both her prints, rugs and textiles. We asked her to take us behind the scenes for a day in her life, using Instagram.

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09.24: Good morning! I’m off to my studio now. While on the tube, I’m doing one of my favorite things - drinking coffee!

10.31: My studio doesn’t look much to the world from the outside, but it’s cosy on the inside.

11.42: I usually spend the time before lunch packing orders. This poster is called Balance and it’s s one of my most popular.

13.39: I hope to add quite a few new products to my range this year, such as wool blankets. This is a sample.

14.37: The wool blankets will be available in a couple of different colors, but I’m having a hard time deciding which.

16.34: Have you seen the rugs in my range?

This is my personal favorite. It’s called Kontra and it’s available in pink and gold.

18.16: I could show you a picture of myself, staring madly at the computer trying to understand my new business software.

19.44: I cut out stuff from magazines and just play around with it. Surprisingly often it gives me new ideas.

20.51: I’m at home again, doing the laundry. But who wants to see pictures of laundry, right?

22.02: It’s time for me to say goodnight.

Thanks for all likes and comments during the day!

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Congratulations!

THE WINNERS! @astromella

@malinlundqq

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em @jennyshusochh

Sofia B.

During the last couple of weeks, we’ve been runing a photo competition to get glimpses of your homes with the products from our designers in it. We got so many great submissions (thank you all!), and a jury selected 5 finalists.

You voted and we now have a winner!

Congratulations @frulunkan!

@fr ulunkan

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