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Sweden - A leading design nation
Designers are high on the list of dream careers among today's young Stockholmers. Lots of progressive designers graduate from design colleges.
Many enjoy considerable success, in restaurant design for example. Stockholmers like to eat out. Being design-conscious, they prefer to eat at well-designed restaurants serving modern, exciting dishes. British trend and interior design guru Sir Terence Conran founder of Habitat and Mothercare, is attracted by to Stockholm. In November he opened the doors of his restaurant at the famous Berns. Styled cookbooks contain Swedish designer language. Graphic design is another major design area attracting Swedes. Newspapers such as Stockholm New and DN på Stan have won international awards for their excellent design.
The Swedish idiom has been in demand across the world throughout the 20th century. Between 1925 and 1955, Sweden was a leading nation in design and architecture. Swedish Grace and Swedish Modern made breakthroughs with cool, agreeable forms and light colours.
The design concept for Swedish functionalism was characterised by three ingredients: beauty for all, more attractive everyday objects, and artists for industry. Glassworks and porcelain factories such as Orrefors, Kosta, Rörstrand and Gustavsberg commissioned top-flight top grade or high flying designers. The result was fantastic. Sweden quickly became known as one of the world's leading glass production centres. While Designers such as Josef Frank, Carl Malmsten and Bruno Mathsson worked in equally breathtaking furniture design.
Following a period of mass production in the 60s and 70s, along with a throwaway mentality, Swedish design entered a new era in the 80s. New designers somewhat nostalgically rediscovered the typically Swedish idiom, which was easily recognisable from Swedish Modern. Today, Swedish designers are once again much sought-after in interior design, textiles and fashion, glass and ceramics, and architecture. Swedish design has regained its position as one of the world's leading design countries.