FÓLKs collaboration with Icelandic product designer Ólína Rögnudóttir will be presented at the Icelandic design festival DesignMarch in Reykjavik 15.-18. March 2018. Ólína answered a few questions from the FÓLK team which found out that her living room view in Reykjavik gives her a breathtaking inspiration everyday.
What do you focus on in your design?
Experience, Usability, Purpose and Environment. Climate change is very important to me, especially the impact, development, understanding of individuals and society, as well as the concept of social denial. In short, I think it's important that the consumer understands where the product comes from, what it is made of and what fate the product will have if it has served its usefulness. These are the requirements I make for myself as both a designer and a consumer.
Where do you get your inspiration?
It depends entirely on the project which I'm working at each moment and what I want to achieve. In essence, the inspiration comes from research, experimentation, words, feelings, conversations, debates or the environment itself. In addition, there are conversations with other inspirations in my design.
What do you think is the biggest challenge in designing new products?
Here I think the purpose of the object is the most important. In other words, does the item serve any purpose, does it speak to someone or is it going to make any difference to the buyer. The availability of lifestyle products is enormous, but for me it is important to take environmental considerations into account and ensure that the product is taking environmental footprint into consideration. With this approach, I hope that the consumer is more aware of the product, thinking in advance of it as a unique item.
Are you inspired by Icelandic environment in your design?
Yes I am. The inspiration of the color palette of The Living Objects, are the colours from the midnight sun and how it illuminates the ocean and the glacier which I'm so lucky to see every night from my apartment window. I also designed the chair Þríhyrningur, inspired by the form of a mountain with the same name which I grew up by. There I also wrap between layers a color palette that refers to the colors of the highlands, ice, snow and glacier floods.
Check out our Instagram and Facebook accounts @folkreykjavik to learn more about the new collection: The Living Objects.
