About us

Design Sweden is the membership organisation for professional practicing designers in Sweden.

We work on behalf of our members, providing advice, steering debate, lobbying for change, and together — through our collective effort — we shape better conditions for working as a designer.

The organisation (Who we are)

For over half a century Design Sweden has been an axis for Swedish designers. However a whole lot has changed since Rune Monö, Carl-Axel Acking and Sigvard Bernadotte chaired the organisation in the 50’s and 60’s. The world has evolved in disruptive ways and design as discipline has developed to reflect advances in new technology and organisational practises. We have gone from confining design to the industrial space to considering it as an all-encompassing process and culture, with an ever-growing amount of job variations. Today, design is present in all companies and organisations and is an unquestioned cornerstone for all start-ups and new initiatives. From its unique vantage point – exploring and analysing emerging behavioural patterns and cultural shifts – design plays a vital part in shaping our surroundings.

The Board

• Lotta Ahlvar, Chairwoman
  Designer, Entrepreneur and Project Manager
• Daniel Byström, Vice Chairman
  Industrial Designer
• Mats Widbom
  Architect and CEO
• Kristina Frisk
  Industrial Designer and CEO
• Axel Norlander
  Industrial Designer
• Klara Persson
  Designer
• Daniel Mair
  Creative Director and Design Lead
• Tove Alderin
  Artistic Director
• Deborah Duerr, Deputy
  Creative Director and Gallery Owner
• Jared Fossey, Deputy
  Designer, Strategist, Educator and Keynote Speaker

Previous Chairmen from 1957 onwards

• Rune Monö, 1957-60 († 2007)
• Carl-Axel Acking, 1960-61 († 2001)
• Sigvard Bernadotte, 1961-63 († 2002)
• Sven Erik Skawonius, 1963-65 († 1981)
• Astrid Sampe, 1965-66 († 2002)
• Ulf Hård af Segerstad, 1966-67 († 2006)
• Sigvard Bernadotte, 1967-69 († 2002)
• Torsten Dahlin, 1969-71
• Hasse Sjöholm, 1971-73 († 2006)
• Jan Landqvist, 1973-75
• P-O Wikström, 1975-77
• Nils Edlund, 1977-78
• Siv Thunell, 1978-80
• Ulf Lamby, 1980-82
• Rolf Herrström, 1982-84
• Hasse Sjöholm, 1984-87 († 2006)
• Björn Alge, 1987-90 († 1999)
• P-O Landgren, 1990-93
• Dag Holmgren, 1993-95
• Hans Tollin, 1995-97
• Kristofer Hansén, 1997-99
• Morten Bergström, 1999-2001
• Christina Sjöberg/Tor Bonnier, 2001-03
• Olle Lundberg, 2003-05
• Tomas Seo, 2005-08
• Lotta Ahlvar, 2008-11
• Carina Oscarsson, 2011-12
• Daniel Byström, 2012-2015
• Petrus Palmér, 2015-17
• Jenny Theolin, 2017-18

Honorary members

• Folke Arström († 1907-1997)
• Sigvard Bernadotte († 1907- 2002)
• Folke Blomberg († 1921-2004)
• Ulf Hård af Segerstad († 1915-2006)
• Rune Monö († 1920-2007)
• Astrid Sampe († 1909 – 2002)
• Sixten Sáson († 1912-1967)
• Hans Sjöholm († 1933-2006)
• Inez Svensson († 1932-2004)
• Rune Zernell († 1921-2009)
• Hugo Lindström († 1920-2009)
• Carl-Arne Breger († 1923-2009)
• Per Heribertson († 1923-2012)
• Torsten Dahlin
• Anne Flyboo
• Gunilla Haggård Lindvall
• Lennart Lindkvist
• Pelle Pettersson
• Katinka Swanström
• Ulla Tarras-Wahlberg Bøe
• Hans Tell
• Lisa Warsén
• Per-Olof Wikström
• Jan Wilsgaard
• Margareta van den Bosch
• Tom Hedqvist
• Kerstin Wickman
• Henrik Otto
• Thomas Seo
• Dag Holmgren
• Sven-Olof Bodenfors

Credits

Art direction and graphic design by Ramiro Oblitas, Parasol
Typeface DS Mikro (Beta) by Göran Söderström, Letters from Sweden
Website (Beta) by Edvard Scott, KOD & FORM