The Anticipation Letters No.5 – To go where your passion leads you
This photo was taken a summer a couple of years ago in the southeast of France, nearby Plage du Racou, France. The off-white “stripes”, the expression “Dolce”, meaning sweet in Italian. Just the sheer idea to put it on your gate, reminding you everyday to capture the good and sweet things in life. To focus on things that “sparks joy”, like that famous Marie Kondo quote. Photo: Charlotte Ryberg
To go where your passion leads you
This week was the yearly Stockholm Design Week and Stockholm Furniture Fair here in Stockholm, as many of you already know. This week I was alone with our kids, since my husband went skiing, which limited the amount of events I could manage to attend. Also explaining why this lands a little later in your inbox than usual...
I’ve written to you about finding ones voice and impactful ways of expressing it, to have a meaningful dialogue with your audience. That’s really what branding and communicative design is about. And to find and express your voice, you have to start paying attention to and listen to it. So for this week I ditched the fomo and picked those things that resonated. I also went to a Podcast workshop (exploring sound!), unrelated to the design week, but completely linked to find and express my voice. We’ll se where it leads me…another story for another Sunday perhaps.
For this Sunday, I’ve put together five key insights from my perspective of what was interesting from Stockholm Furniture Fair and Stockholm Design Week. But do reply me with your’s!
Une Liste de Cinque
Key insights from the fair/design week
Reinventing booth design – there were many initiatives on how to create booth designs with lower footprints while keeping a strong impact, a continuation of a big shift seen last year here. You can either create a flexible structure, to reuse again and again (ex Ogeborg), or you can use your own materials/products such as textiles as a softer and sustainable divider (Astrid, Dahl Agenturer). Internationally I’ve also seen many examples of installations where you’re not using such clear division or booths at all, rather you co-exist like islands under various themes, embracing the temporary feel.
Learning & Sharing – The program for talks were really quite extensive and well put together, deepening the learning and insights. I especially appreciated Alison Brooks talk on how research is used at a deep level infusing their work (image below). Faye Toogood filled her guest of honor-exhibition with objects and forms still in process, sharing her process and approach. In the Material Dialogues by Emma Olbers you could also dive into material and production footprints, open and generous with sharing knowledge and insight. At Byarums bruk they showcase how their products are produced in a circular and artisanal way, sand casting in 100% recycled aluminium. Astrid textiles offers workshops in natural dyes in a collaboration with Alice Fine.
Hospitality – We’ve moved away from a group of men in suits standing in a booth with wrapped candy waiting to treat (only) VIP guests (ok, there’s still a few of these hopelessly keeping up appearances), into a more informal and friendly hospitality. Some offer coffee, some don’t, but always greeting and inviting into exploration of much more open and friendly spaces.
Material exploration – The interest in finding more sustainable material, regenerative materials is seen everywhere. Sometimes it’s perhaps just a switch of a tabletop into a recycled material, sometimes the exploration goes deep, harvesting, grinding, experimenting. Design students and independent design agencies have long been leading the way, but with a difficulty to scale up and connect to full product life cycles. In a panel discussion – Materials of the future – Natsai Audrey Chieza, founder of Faber Futures took it the necessary step further, talking about the big shift needed in whole systems.
Purpose – The design industry is making huge and necessary shifts towards a more sustainable practice, but also the role for design and architecture, how we can take part in creating the world we want to see, and the systems that needs to change. In this need to go beyond newness and product presentations, quite few are actually using the power of showing your individual character and making it clearer what you stand for. The examples below all do that in different ways. This is the perspective(s) I am intrigued to explore further, in my own brand and studio projects with clients and collaborators for 2025 and onwards.
So many intriguing process samples at the Guest of Honor exhibition by Faye Toogood.
These lovely red things is from an installation for Hermès, a favorite of mine. High end and experimental at the same time. To use a Marie Kondo expression, this “sparks joy” in me. I hereby decide to never again let myself be disturbed by those who claim only result matters, not process…If we truly want to shift things, process is everything.
Vitra also opened up their showroom for a talk with one of their designers, sharing, learning, rather than “free mingling” feels 2025.
They also had their own collection of bottled drinks, such as the classic and always favorite and go-to drink Negroni, part of the creation of a brand world.
As you probably know by now, me and my husband also run a small scale production of our own atelier collection LES OBJETS.
Our textile artworks Sequence, both invited people and gave them some sheer privacy when welcomed by the always friendly staff at our agent Dahl Agenturer’s booth. Did you experience it? What did you think?
Learning is a big part of design fairs, a very important part to showcase the depth, process, questions that’s behind the work.
The Construction of Research with Alison Brooks, acclaimed British architect, was one that brought my attention, highlighting the importance and possibilities of using extensive research to understand place, people, origin of material, making your work relevant, authentic, opening a dialogue as well as authorship.
My client Act of Caring represented at the Material Dialogues design bar by Emma Olbers. To care for high quality objects, things you love is part of the shift not mention as often as high quality, regenerative materials etc, but an absolute must to relearn the rituals of caring.
In this exhibition you could also dive into material and production footprints, open and generous with sharing knowledge and insight. This resembled more what we work with in exhibition design for museums, which I think is interesting, but was it a little to complex to take in in this space? Can we take enough time in spaces like this at fairs?
Walking along with design friends brings new perspectives. In the background you see the installation from the perfumer brand En doft, which, like us, also has a design studio (All matters studio, along with a French Perfumer) as creators.
This fair is still very traditional in the sense that it foremost focus on furniture. While you can experience more contemporary and open interpretations of what design can be out in the city as part of Stockholm Design Week, I was pleased to see that En doft dared to challenge the status quo. I was also pleased to visit their studio and talks more about the power of scent. I can’t wait to invite you to the next immersive installation for For the Love of Pine (but I still have some work to do).
Byarums Bruk showcasing their artisanal production of their beautiful and very classical objects.
If you have a point of view, and a conscious way of working, you need to bring your audience into your world, your process. And not just through talking, but through doing.
In a panel discussion – Materials of the future – Natsai Audrey Chieza, founder of Faber Futures took it the necessary step further, talking about the big shift needed in whole systems.
Celine Sandberg, vd för Agoprene, uses only biomaterial from seeweed in their quest to industrial scale foam materials. Cristiano Pigazzini, Note Design Studio, highlighted the strive towards using sustainable materials, but also the difficulties due to budget and also limited resources to fully know everything about a material and its lifecycle.
Dry Studios is a kindred spirit kind of Design Studio. Far from bright industrial scale product design often showcased at the fair, here everything is refined but with a sense of authentic rawness, and a dedication to material.
It is also superbly well curated, every little detail is cared for and plays part of the whole experience. From the objects and artworks, via the interior, to the way that tools and stationary are organized. You are welcomed into their completely curated world, and here’s where many companies still have a lot to learn.
The Anticipation Letters – A new Sunday ritual. A more personal and intuitive letter on design, life, work, philosophy, inspiration, creating anticipation for the week ahead. If you want to get it in your inbox (I post it here later) Sunday morning, sign up below! And do get back to me with your reflections, thoughts and experiences. These letters are meant to be in dialogue with you “ENTIÈRE Amis”!