Design for the "Wealthy Years"

During the 1960s, many Swedes attained a higher living standard. The consumption of entertainment and the amount of leisure time increased. Products specially adapted to leisure needs for a more relaxed life was a growing category on the market.

With an improved economy, consumer choices increased. Advertising and corporate logos took up more space in the public area. Corporate identity design became a growing market within the design field.

Children’s play and imagination, freed from cultural conventions, inspired designers to create products for children – and for adults who still had a sense of playfulness.

The parking meter was a well-known item in urban environments for most of the 20th century. Per Heribertson belonged to the first generation of industrial designers in Sweden. His design gave the user clear guidance on the function of the device, and the yellow colour made it easy to spot in crowded streets. Today, parking meters are often replaced by digital designs, like an app in your mobile phone.

The Free Form

During the 1960s a movement, that has been called The Free Form was established in the Swedish crafts field. The influences came primarily from the art world, which inspired a celebration of freedom from craft traditions and the requirements of practical function. Therefore, an experimental approach became more important than the result, and the craftsman’s imagination was valued higher than harmonious proportions of the object.

Free form also revealed an undesirable boundary between art and crafts. With the silver-sculpture Portrait of a Pea, designer Sigurd Persson emphasized that he wanted to be regarded as an artist.

By the end of the 1960s, many of society’s norms and structures were questioned. Issues like pollution, war, gender equality and social injustice were vigorously debated. How do we take care of our planet and how do we behave towards each other? Britt-Ingrid Persson’s sculpture visualizes how man, in a short-term selfish act, tramples our fragile world.

New Materials

During the 1960s and 1970s, the status of furniture was lowered by the introduction of new materials such as plastic, cardboard and chipboard. Many people painted or re-upholstered furniture bought at auctions or made of chipboard. Inflatable plastic furniture and the DIY trend meant a breach of a bourgeois design culture, where good taste and craftsmanship had been the goal.

In 1960 a debate about the concept of buy-use-throw away broke out in Sweden, where interior designer Lena Larsson claimed that consumption was a human right. This was before people fully realized the negative impact of mass production on the environment.

The lamp is enamelled in two shades of red-orange in a timely, psychedelic and wavy pattern. Flower Pot, made up of two hemispheres, was relatively cheap to manufacture and sold in large amounts, not least in Denmark. Verner Panton liked to arrange several smaller lamps in groups, forming a sculptural element in the room.

Simplified Everyday Life

During the 1960s, many Swedish women began to work for wages. The time for household work decreased and demand for products facilitating everyday life increased. The service sets got fewer parts for different needs. Oven-proof porcelain that could be placed on the table, directly from the oven or the hob, saved dishes. Plates, mugs and flower pots in colourful, unbreakable plastic broke against the fine china of previous generations.

This square glass jar stuck out in the glassworks’ selection of luxury goods. It was blown in a mould, giving it a robust appearance, and the cork stopper lent it an everyday feel. Signe Persson-Melin’s square series included bottles and jugs, and soon became a commercial success. In effect, it saved Boda glassworks, which at the end of the 1960s was struggling with faltering sales.

Design for All

Design is about meeting the needs of users and facilitating their everyday lives. Since the 1960s, the idea of “Design for All” has evolved into a guiding principle in Swedish design. Thanks to studies of people’s specific problems, several Swedish designers have developed ergonomic utilities with the purpose of creating attractive products that also appeals to wide consumer groups.

The handle of the knife is reminiscent of a saw and the stand of a mitre box. The design helps people with weak and stiff wrists or shaky hands to use it more easily. The design bureau Ergonomi Design Gruppen was formed in 1969. Their methodology was based on studies and interviews with people who were expected to use the product or tool in question. The goal was to create attractive items that people without disabilities also would want to use.

Teamwork

Design is teamwork. Beside the designer different competences are involved, such as engineers, sociologists, ergonomics, economics and marketers. Specific problems or needs are analysed during the design process. Product development is based on studies of people’s problems and behaviour. Models and materials are tested and corrected. Function, safety and ergonomic qualities are important aspects. How to use the product should also be intuitive.

During the greater part of the 20th century, one could not choose a phone but received the standard phone included in the subscription. The design of Diavox was revolutionary. The number dial of older models was replaced by buttons and the user could choose the colour of the cover. Carl-Arne Breger designed a series of everyday items found in Swedish homes, such as a square bucket, a TV thermos, the Bigpak ice cream packaging and a sculptural watering can.

Furniture or Sculpture?

Is it a chair or a work of art? The issue became relevant during the years around 1980 when several designers and companies began to prioritize visual qualities instead of ergonomics and practical function.

This development is connected to an emerging image of consumption as an identity-creating activity – a chair is not just a chair, it tells who you are. Exclusive furniture became collectibles, , often with an increased economic value.

The shelf Carlton has become a symbol of the postmodern design of the 1980s. Its primary function is not to accommodate a lot of books, on the contrary, it expresses qualities that are more closely associated with a sculpture. The Italian design collective Memphis was founded in 1981, with Ettore Sottsass as one of the members. They revolted against the modernist design ideal and introduced new combinations of patterns, colours and shapes.

Craft in the Industrial Society

How can exclusive handicraft be developed in competition with cheap mass production by industry? Craftsmen have argued that industrialization threatens to wipe out human knowledge about handicraft. They have often emphasized that there are values in handicraft other than economy – values concerning lifestyles and the quality of life.

The green wave of the 1970s, when many people left the cities, contributed to an increased interest in handicrafts. At the same time, more and more artists and designers started their own glass works, and ceramics and textile studios. The development was partly due to cuts in the Swedish art industry.

During the 21st century, concepts such as locally produced and craftsman-like small-scale production have been linked to the vision of a sustainable development.

In 1957, a group of craftsmen and interior designers founded HI Group. They emphasized handicraft qualities in furniture design. Hans Johansson designed the chair, carpenter Anders Berglund and upholsterer Gösta Engström manufactured it. The furniture became too expensive, and HI Group was dissolved in 1972. Johansson’s design is characterized by clever solutions producing an individual character, like the chair’s double front legs.

Resistance & Monumentality

Crafts were perceived in the 1970s as a resistance movement to the anonymous mass production of industrialism. Behind each craft item there was a living person. The educational aspect was important – artisans would demonstrate their entire creative work process and inspire others to create with their hands.

During the 1980s, applied arts and crafts became more focused on an exclusive audience and the expressions grew increasingly monumental.

Kristian Nilsson has become famous for his innovative and turgid jewelry that clearly broke the modernists' idea of Swedish simplicity. The sculptural vial has the shape of a fully blown flower with a pistil in the middle.

Innovative Tradition

During the decades around the the millenium, awareness of the importance of design when creating a brand increased. Consumers used design to communicate their identities. Several companies, designers and artisans found inspiration in older idioms, materials and manufacturing techniques. The simple, taut forms that were found in the 18th century and the functionalism of the 1930s were updated. Nature became a source for reinterpretation.

With low-key shape and in unlatched glass, Absolut Vodka poped out in the bar. The advertising agency Carlsson & Broman took inspiration from an old medicine bottle. The graphic design further enhanced the identity. The name, in blue letters, and the history, in black writing style, were printed directly on the bottle. In 1993 the drink had already been produced for a century. The design of the bottle has helped Absolut Vodka become an international top seller.

Critical Design

Around 2000, several countries developed a critical approach to design. Critical design is characterized by a conceptual and contradictory attitude governing the choice of materials, the formative aspects and manufacturing processes.

The Dutch company Droog was a leader in critical design. The company was founded by Gijs Bakker and Renny Ramakers, who premiered various designers’ cross-border works in Milan in 1993.

The hydroelectric power dam Three Gorges is located in the Yangtze River in China. When it was built in 1993-2012, millions of people were forced to move. The ceramic artist Paul Scott has reworked the porcelain decor Willow, a classic English pattern from around 1840. The motif depicts a Chinese landscape in accordance with Western romance and imagination about the Orient. Scott’s version depicts the landscape after the dam.

A Debate About Taste

The early Swedish conceptual design originated in a debate about taste, but basically it was about power. The power to choose which objects and persons should be included in the contemporary design history and, for example, acquired to the Nationalmuseum collections. Until now, “Swedish” design was largely characterized by the penchant for simplicity. The critics called for a more inclusive approach, including other expressions, forms and references.

In the years around the turn of the millennium many in the design world was provoked by Per B. Sundberg's ceramics that turned against the idea of a Swedish simplicity without unnecessary decoration. A clock radio has got a new shell of lustre glistening faience. The figures are flea bargains and the flower decorations made of industrial decals. On the radio, a moose thrones, one of the proudest animals in the Swedish fauna.

Crafts in the Digital World

In our world, which is so strongly characterized by digital communication and industrial production, the fascination of man’s ability to create with his hands is growing. Also the boundary between fine art and crafts becomes less significant.

Materiality, the choice of materials, what it expresses, how they are treated and how they feel to touch, is a key aspect of contemporary art crafts. Another is a conceptually questioning approach.

A bowl and a whisk are the sort of utensils you find in almost every kitchen. Does it make using them different if they’re made of silver? Klara Eriksson says that ‘my silver bowl will last for generations and is a special treat to use’. She is one of the founders of the LOD workshop cooperative, and has also made silver versions of the classic stainless-steel litre and decilitre measuring cups.

Design and Technique

The design world has many technological opportunities, but also great challenges for creating a sustainable society. Smart design is about how design and digital technology can contribute to increased quality of life. Things that communicate with us can simplify our everyday lives and influence our behaviour so that we may contribute to a sustainable development. Choice of material, terms of production and life quality are recurrent issues.

Internet of things - objects that can communicate with each other, or with us - is an area under quick development. The voice-controlled app C.Me and light diodes on the helmet enable cyclists to communicate their turns or decelerations just like a car's turn signals and brake lights. The helmet also has a sensor that makes a phone call to a selected person if the cyclist loses consciousness, with information of his or her location.

Diversity

In the wealthy Western world, consumption of design is often regarded as an identity-creating activity. What goods and services you consume tell everybody who you are and who you want to be.

For many designers and artisans, experimental processes, thoughtful messages and visually interesting forms are desirable qualities. Some work in a variety of fields, others become absorbed in a material or product category.

A desire to combine different materials in a new way was the starting point for Anton Alvarez when he designed the Thread Wrapping Machine tool. It winds threads drenched in glue around pieces of wood, plastic or other materials and provide different shapes that are gradually built up with new parts. No nails or screws are needed. The design process is intuitive, the construction becomes stable and the threads provide a decorative effect.