Interview with Swedish IKEA Designer Pia Amsell

Autographed products designed by Pia Amsell & Barbro Wesslander

This past Friday, Swedish Product Designers Pia Amsell and Barbro Wesslander gave a talk at Minneapolis’ IKEA store to show off their latest creations for the Scandinavian home furnishings store.  At the FIKA (the Swedish term for a coffee break), I had the chance to learn about the inspiration behind their latest accessory designs for IKEA and sit down and talk with Pia Amsell about her background in design.  Read on after the jump to learn more:

Designers Pia Amsell and Barbro Wesslander showing off the book that accompanies the 17 Swedish Designers exhibit that they are a part of at the American Swedish Institute

I had the chance to sit down with Pia Amsell to talk a bit about her background and interest in design.  She told me that both she and Barbro grew up in small rural villages outside of Stockholm.  Pia grew up in Sifferbo village, and Barbro on the East Coast of Sweden.  The natural landscapes that surrounded them in their youth now lend themselves to inspiration for their organic designs within their products.

Pia had an interest in design since she was very young.  She tells me that at the age of 12, she was initially interested in fashion design and sewing clothes.  Her love of design brought her to the acclaimed Beckman College of Design in Stockholm, where she met Barbro Wesslander.  The school has a fantastic comprehensive design program that integrates all types of  design, from fashion to product design,  into the students’ education.  The professors have their own design careers and they then teach as a secondary profession.  As a result, the teachers take what they learn in their design careers and apply it to the classroom.

Towards the end of college, the designers began to form a relationship with the developers at IKEA, who were interested in adding some of their designs to their product line.  With many revisions of the designs in the development process, it can sometimes take up to 2 years before the final finished product will hit the shelves at IKEA.  As the developers continued to work with the designers, Pia and Barbro delved into different products, such as linens, table wear, and glass vases.  They currently are in the works on a lamp project that will appear at IKEA in a year to a year and half.

At their talk at Ikea, Amsell & Wesslander described the inspiration behind their various products.  Please look through the photo gallery below to see their designs and to learn about how these products came about.  You can see Amsell & Wesslander’s designs at the American Swedish Institute’s 17 Swedish Designers show now through May 30th.