Nordic design is famed for its blond woods and clean-look typified by Swedish Modernism, but the region wants to promote another aspect of the industry that focuses on the contribution design can make across society.
For the first time, Finland, Norway and Sweden have come together this month to launch the 2005 Year of Design, co-ordinating an international effort to boost the awareness and use of design across private and public sectors. The countries are seeking to demonstrate how Nordic design has evolved since the 1990s, and where the future of the industry lies.
Sweden is spearheading the project, running activities from a dedicated campaign office in Stockholm, set up by the Svensk Form, the Swedish Society of Crafts and Design. The project was dreamt up in conjunction with the Swedish Industrial Design Foundation. It is backed by the Ministry of Culture and has a budget of about s6m (£4m).
According to Anna Rygard, project manager at Svensk Form, up to 1000 government-commissioned events, exhibitions, workshops, courses, lectures and day-care projects will be taking place over the year. A steering group comprising representatives from the National Museum of Fine Arts, the National Public Art Council, the Arts Grants Committee, the National Swedish Handicraft Council, the University College of Arts, Craft and Design, and the Swedish Research Council will help manage the projects.
There will be up to 1000 events taking place across Sweden. For more information visit www.merdesign.se.
An event calendar for Finland's Year of Design is available at www.designonoff.fi, or from Design Forum Finland by e-mailing anna.varakas@design forum.fithat cannot be detected by radar, and Era 05, a congress on how design solutions can be applied to migration, demographic change and multicultural communities. There will also be various international events, such as Sustainable City, a Swedish-Chinese forum held in Beijing. New forms of transport-packaging design, interactive design and revised graphic profiles will also be introduced.
Rygard hopes more links will be made between businesses and the design sector that will help to 'professionalise' the industry and demonstrate how design implicitly affects the environment, use of resources, education, research, and consumer values.
The event is being branded 'Mer Design', meaning 'More Design.' The logo has been designed by Swedish consultancy Happy Forsman & Bondenfors, and will run across all marketing literature, digital designs and campaign media activity.