Notes from the Design Team

ferm LIVING’s team of designers share their thoughts on their collaborative

and balanced approach to the design process.

The Art of Balance

At ferm LIVING, we have the advantage of having our own design

studio with a team of different personalities who, together, produce

most of our designs.

“We all differ from each other but share the same values that ground

our designs in the same place,” say the design team. That place is what

forms ferm LIVING’s core identity: authentic Scandinavian design

with a clear functionality that embraces the contrasts of life.

“We are always asking ourselves, ‘How do we design a home with

space to feel comfortably oneself?’ We want to create a happy, warm

place for the people we design for, whether that is furniture, lighting

or accessories. Occasionally, we will partner with an external design-

er on a product that perfectly matches our brand DNA.”

The team comes from a range of educational and working back-

grounds within design. Equally important, however, are the different

perspectives that each member of the team brings to the table – a

gut feeling that is informed by each individual life experience: “Call it

what you want – a gut feeling, intuition – but we’re not afraid to work

from that place. It’s a concrete thing, an accumulation of individual

taste, memories, beliefs and experiences. When designing a product,

you merge that feeling with function, aesthetics and craftmanship,

but it all starts with intuition.”

The creative process. Notes to achieve balance

The process of creating a new collection is collaborative and struc-

tured. Each of the designers has one or several areas of expertise,

some in paper and textiles, others in furniture or lighting. They work

closely together with category managers specialised in product cat-

egories – furniture, mirrors, lighting or kid’s products – or specific

materials such as stone and marble, metal, glass, ceramic or wood.

While the designers each specialise in various categories, collaborat-

ing and sharing the responsibility of the design process is still an im-

portant element of their work: “We value the idea of examining every

piece from all angles, with many pairs of eyes. By doing this, we know

when a piece is finally complete.”

The notion of collaboration also ensures balance in the design – one

of the most important elements in the entire process: “The process

of creating new collections of products is very much a balancing act.

Finding the right balance between the authentic and the structured

and the artsy and the functional is the most important and challeng-

ing task that our unique in-house design team take on in their daily

work” says Jannie Søgaard, Chief Product Officer at ferm LIVING.

Creating designs that are in balance impacts not only the functional

process of creating a specific product, but also the inspiration behind

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