Tag: Swedish

Designer Desire: Sven Fristedt

Montage of Sven Fristedt textile designs | H is for Home

Sven Fristedt is one of the most successful and prolific textile designers to come out of Sweden in the mid-20th century.

Since the mid-1960s, Sven Fristedt has designed dozens of fabric designs; primarily for IKEA and Borås Wäfveri. He began at Borås in 1965 and remained there until 1990, acting as the factory’s artistic leader between 1975 and 1977. Plexus, (the design is shown above – a repeating starburst-type pattern) which was the company’s first silk-screen print was also his first commercial design. It proved to be hugely successful. Amongst his other output for the company include Frutto, Frots i trädgården, Mitt Zoo, Oppo, Ormen, Pompelona and Päråna.

He designed for IKEA from 1968 to 1985 as is responsible for design lines such as ALFI, GLADA BLAS, MYRTEN and SKYAR.

In 2013, he collaborated with Hemtex, producing a gorgeous design with a repeating pear motif.

In a 2014 interview with the magazine, Scandinavian Retro, he shared:

Naturally I was influenced by others. Marimekko did fantastically dramatic things, and Josef Frank did some great pieces for Svenskt Tenn. I discovered the designer Ken Scott at a trade fair in Milan. He designed some really beautiful patterns for Falconetto… I am surprised about how many good things I did, at least there’s nothing I’m ashamed of.

Because they were produced in such large runs, his designs are readily available on eBay and Etsy.

Portrait of Sven Fristedtcredit

Additional image credits:

Bukowskis

Designer Desire: Hans-Agne Jakobsson

Montage of Hans-Agne Jakobsson lighting designs | H is for Home

Hans-Agne Jakobsson (1919–2009) was a Swedish designer known predominantly for his lighting designs. He was very prolific in his output, producing designs for his own brand, AB Markaryd, as well as Orrefors, Glashütte Limburg, Svera and Ellysett. The last – also located in the town of Markaryd – used Jakobsson’s designs for a 1970s line of wood veneer pendant lights named SPÅN for IKEA.

For a designer who created over 2,000 separate designs, it’s no surprise that Hans-Agne Jakobsson items are still easy to come by… over a huge range of prices. Check out 1stDibs, eBay, Etsy, Finnish Design Shop and Pamono for examples costing from £50 all the way up to £30,000+.

Portrait of Hans-Agne Jakobsson
credit

Additional image credits:
Pamona

Designer Desire: Gunnar Cyrén

Selection of Gunnar Cyrén designs | H is for Home

Gunnar Cyrén (1931-2013) was an award-winning Swedish product designer who initially trained as a metalsmith in Stockholm. He has, however, produced products in glass, wood and plastic.

He designed primarily for well-known Scandi makers, Orrefors and Dansk. My favourite designs of his are the series of silver plate animal figures for Dansk; they include hippos, pelicans, camels, blue whales, pigs, frogs, giraffes, antelope and elephants. Many come up for sale on eBay.

Portrait of Gunnar Cyréncredit

Additional image credits:

1st Dibs | Artnet | Bukowskis

Designer Desire: Sigurd Persson

Mosaic of Sigurd Persson works | H is for Home

I just can’t get enough of vintage Scandinavian jewellery designers! Sigurd Persson is the latest in a number that we’ve featured here on Designer Desire.

Persson (1914-2003) was an important Swedish, post-war precious metalsmith and jewellery designer. In 1960, he had a career-boosting exhibition entitled 77 rings at the department store, Nordiska Kompaniet, where he showed… well… 77 of his ring designs. In 1964, he had his first international show of 150 pieces of his jewellery, commissioned by Georg Jensen. It took place at their store on 5th Avenue, New York. Oh to have been around at the time to have visited! The New York Times reported at the time:

A COLLECTION of jewelry that combines the clean, spare lines of Scandinavian design with a splendor that is partly old‐time barbaric and partly avant‐garde sophisticated goes on view today at Georg Jensen. The jewelry was created by Sigurd Persson, who is also known in his native Sweden for the chalices, crosses and candlesticks he has designed for churches.

The Persson collection can be divided roughly into two groups. One has a rather cool and airy look, remindful of the patterns of snowflakes. The other has a heavy, architectural appearance and plays up geometric shapes, as well as domes and arrangements of crossbars.

As you can see from the images above, he was so much more than a jewellery designer. In addition, he was a sculptor and product designer working in various mediums including metal, glass and plastic. In 1976, he designed the Swedish 5 krona coin which is still in circulation today.

Examples of his work can be found in the permanent collections of the V&A, MOMA and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs.

The series of books about his work (the bottom image, above) is currently available both singly and as a set on Abe Books.

Portrait of Sigurd Perssoncredit

Additional image credits: 1st Dibs | Artnet | Bukowskis