NORDIC g in Liv ISSUE NO.3 | APRIL 2016
Blue moods
Not only is all shades of blue spot on trendy right now, it is also a classic summer colour reminding us of blue skies, sunny days by the ocean and crispy cool summer nights. This was our inspiration for this issue. Our interview for this issue took place in Skåne, in the south of Sweden, on a sunny day. We visited metal designer Jenny Kåberg and she shared her passion about high quality and making conscious choices in your life. For her, moving with her family to an old farm house on the country side was one of these choices. Working only with fairtrade metals is another. As always, we’ve also filled this issue with new designers, trends and inspirations. Welcome, we hope you will enjoy it. Thank you for reading, following and supporting us!
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.
CONTENT Blue Moods
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Trend: Marine Love
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Presenting: Qvist Jewellery
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Meet the designer: Jenny KĂĽberg
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Presenting: Vissla Visuell Design
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Trend: Posters in blue
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A day in the life of: Details by M
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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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BLUE MOODS Styling and photo: Maria Richardsson
Blue is a classic summer colour in the Nordics. Crisp summer skies and blue sea horizons sets the tone when we get into the Blue Mood.
Funäs cushion cover by Wallmark Formstudio, Mångfald Cobolt Blue cushion cover by Butler/Lindgård, Handpainted Tea/Coffee cup & Saucer by Kristin Erséus, jewellery made by re-used porcelain by Sägen.
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Trend
MARINE LOVE Enjoy spring by letting the freedom from the ocean fill your mind! Marine love is a spring favorit and gives us hope that the summer is coming.
From top left: Brooch-handmade anchor by Maja Ternström Jewelry, The Three Whales poster by Angelica Sollander, Faith Hope Love - navy tray by Sabina Wroblewski Gustrin, Jelly Dancer poster by Sanna Wieslander, cushion cover Sky by Camilla Edfors, Dark Treasure poster by Havsglas Sverige, Urban Desert Ring in brass by Qvist Jewellery, Little Belief silver earrings by Sägen, Candlestick Nickel plated Brass by Kattvikdesign. Right: Peacock Cushion by Cajsa Wessberg.
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Presenting
QVIST JEWELLERY Pernilla Qvist is the designer behind the brand Qvist Jewellery, a poetic artist with a love of welding. Read below about how a childhood memory and a hidden treasure created the foundation for a creative career, and helped her find her way. Tell us about your background. My name is Pernilla Qvist and I started the jewellery company Qvist Jewellery in 2013. I’m a northern soul from Luleå who ended up in Stockholm where I now live and work. I started my artistic journey among paintings and sculptures for many years, to later find my place within metal design. It felt like when you fall in love, a calm and a given feeling. What’s the story behind your brand? I realized that the love for metal design has always been within me through a memory that I carried with me since childhood. When I was little, I found something on a dirty garage floor. I never imagined that it would bring me to life like it did. It was a welding residue, a dollop of molten steel lying there in a spectrum of colors. I still remember how the smell of steel made me nauseous, but the welding residue was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I found the dollop again in my childhood home last year, a hidden treasure in a white plastic box with golden text and pink cotton inside. There it was again, 20 years after I found it!
What inspires you to create? Different cultures and traditions of craftsmanship inspires me. I enjoy to travel and experience how different life might look around the world. Meetings, dreams and memories baked into one. What made you decide to start your own company, and what do you like most about it? My father was a self-employed electrician. The pride that I felt my father had for his business when I was little inspired me to start my own business. The very best thing about being your own is to become totally free and let my creativity, urge and mind flow freely. The challenges and the way you develop. Forming a company and building a brand requires many pieces to be fall into place. It’s fun and exciting!
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Meet the designer JENNY KÅBERG METALLDESIGN
“LIFE IS ABOUT MAKING CONSCIOUS CHOICES” It is a sunny spring day. We’re heading to the beautiful countryside in Skåne to meet with metal designer Jenny Kåberg, to hear about her life choices and her passion about quality and fairness. Text and photo: Maria Richardsson
Jenny is living on a hill with a breath taking view with her husband and two boys. The house is newly built but looks like the original house from the 18th century, designed to fit in the rural surroundings with farms and old country houses. “We bought the farm about 9 years ago, and were hoping to renovate it. Unfortunately, it was not in the best condition, so we
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had to tear it down and build a new house instead. But we’ve tried hard to make it look similar to the original house, and to make it last another couple of hundred years” Jenny tells me. “At the moment, I have my workshop upstairs in a small room, but we are going to renovate one of the old stables to a studio, workshop and show room”.
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Jenny and her husband moved here from London, where they met. She studied metal design at Camberwell College of Arts in London, and got her Bachelor degree in Silversmithing and Metalwork back in 2000. “After spending 10 years in London, I got tired of the long commutes and the stress. My mother was living in the countryside in the south of Sweden, and we decided to move here” Jenny tells us. “We wanted to create a different life, and get to focus on my metal work. For a few years I worked in a jewellery shop not very far from here, but a few years back I decided to focus full time on my design. They were very supportive, and are still one of the best resellers of my designs”. For Jenny, life is much about making conscious choices. Moving to Skåne was one of them, and she is very committed to
using good materials in her work. “The jewellery business does not have the best history, there has been - and still is - a lot of abuse and exploit when it comes to mining of metals and gemstones, but I’m only using fair traded gemstones and ecological or recycled silver in my jewellery”. In her designs, she wants to put the focus on the material itself rather than a fancy design. One of her collection is letting the shape of the stone create the design, just mounting it in silver. In another collection, she is mixing granite pebbles she has been picking from the beach with silver to create the contrast. “Yes, I really love working with contrasts” she says with a smile and picks up another ring. “This is made from recycled gold that I melted. It becomes quite rough in this process, and then I added a few diamonds to get the
contrast I was looking for. This makes the ring so much more special and exciting, than just any flat gold ring”. Her focus is at the moment at creating jewellery, but she has plenty of other ideas. She has already created a few mini-vases in silver and copper, and have plans for lamps and other products in different kind of metals and techniques, just as she learned during her studies. Every spring, there is a big Art Tour in Skåne. Hundreds of artists are opening their studios and people are touring from studio to studio, to get inspired and buy original pieces. Jenny Kåberg has been a part of the Art Tour for four years now. “It is such a great week. During this Easter weekend alone, I had 1000 visitors in my showroom! It is great to meet with people and tell them about my work, and
I’ve noticed that the interest just seem to grow stronger and stronger by each year. People really want to know more about the products they are buying, and rather invest in high quality pieces than just things from the regular retail stores. That makes me so happy, I don’t want my jewellery to be just short-lived accessories, I want to make pieces that you would want to pass on to your children and their children�. Hearing Jenny telling me her story makes my heart go warm. She is truly passionate about creating something good in a business that sometimes behaves quite badly, and supporting small business owners like her is really what Nordic Design Collective is all about.
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Presenting
VISSLA VISUELL DESIGN I love when someone sees the possibilities in new technologies, and even though you might not think so technology is a big part of these posters. Isabell Larsson, the designer behind the brand Vissla Visuell Design, is using the technique of 3D visualizations to create her art. Tell us about your background! As long as I can remember, I have been interested in creating different things. Everything from sketching, painting, sewing, taking photos. In my profession I have devote myself to these various things, and have a background as dressmaker, decorator, graphic designer and visualizer.
What made you decide to start your own company, and what do you like most about it? During the time that I was trained as a visualizer, I discovered a new way to express my kind of art. I started my own company because I enjoy being involved in the whole process of coming up with ideas, create, produce and market my own brand.
What’s the story behind your brand? VISSLA stands for Visualization Isabell Larsson. I want to connect my print with my passion – photography, design and art. My art prints are produced in 3D-program, where I create models and different materials.
What are your plans and dreams for the future? I want to develop VISSLA with unique products in interior design. And to have my own exhibition would be amazing!
What inspires you to create? I am driven by curiosity and development. Architecture and natural living material are things that influence me.
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Trend
POSTERS IN BLUE
From top left: I Am and By The Water by Fanny Oldenburg Photo and Design, Blue Rose by Piel Design, The Clouds 4 by Havsglas Sverige, The Waves #1 by By Vogt, The Three Whales by Angelica Sollander, Signature 2 by Nouchii, Orb Éclipse by Puldefranck, Fishing For Stars by Majali Design & Illustration, Ballet Essence by Fanny Oldenburg Photo and Design, Dark Blue by Wargstedt, Yael II by Dan Isaac Wallin, Cousin Fox by By Vogt, Write Your Own Story by Sofie Rolfsdotter, Frame of Mind by Bjerregarden, Narwhal by A Grape Design, Hibernate II by Cjohanson Foto, Your Life by Fröken Form, Trash To Treasure Butterfly by Havsglas Sverige, Mittåkläppen by Wallmark Formstudio.
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The easiest way to add a new trend colour to your home is to update your poster wall.
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A day in the life of
DETAILS BY M Every Thursday, one of our designers are in charge of our Instagram. One of them is the talented photographer Details by M, who brought us along during a typical working day. FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM
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08.06: Hello! My name is Maria and I’m the M in Details by M. My creative passion lies within photo art.
11.24: The approaching springtime inspire us to create new designs, so we´ll start this day with a photo session.
12.40: The ability to create art without using a pen is very inspiring. To find the right angel, setting up the light...
13.40: The pictures are often edited in Photoshop, not necessary to improve them, but to create the right feeling.
14.49: Details by M also got its own mascot - the dog Kompis. Kompis is a Lhasa Apso and will turn 8 years old in May.
15.57: Following the photo session, the day continues with packing our orders. We always have our customers in focus.
16.55: The biggest source of our inspiration is the nature and the best ideas often come during long walks with Kompis.
18.10: Our inspirational pictures are important because they show how our designs works in and with an environment.
Check out the work of Details by M in our store!
22.25: A long day is coming to an end, and it is time to say goodnight.
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