BACE Blog

Featured guru :: Carina Oskarsson of Sweden

July 11, 2010 by Mel Lim | business, featured gurus | 0 Comments

Featured Guru :: Carina Oskarsson, Sweden
Expertise: Strategic Design

1) Tell us what you do.
I am a design strategist. I develop visual identities for the Government offices of Sweden. I have a BA in Graphic Design. I am educated as a design manager with courses in strategic marketing and branding. My career started when I was a child I think. I always sat drawing in my room and when I got older I did calligraphy work for restaurants. I was also quite active in sports.

I’ve always wanted to specialize, so when I was a teenager, I chose to be an athlete. I came into my present profession quite late, so you can say I am a beginner within this field (10 years experience).

2) What is Swedish design? What are the key distinctive features/ elements that define “Swedish” or “Scandinavian” design? Any difference between the two?
I like the question even though it is hard for myself to tell you what makes Swedish design special. Scandinavian design (Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway) is what you can say “Less is More”. Very clean and functional if you compare to American design, which I think is more emotional and sometimes a bit romantic. There are differences between the Scandinavian countries: Sweden is very functional, Denmark has subtle nuances and is more vivid, Finland is comparable with Sweden. Norway suffers from too many knitted pullovers, but they still have a lot to offer. The common thing between all countries is that Scandinavian design is clean and crisp.

3) Name top 3 entrepreneurs/leaders/designers that you admire the most and why.

Steve Jobs for his intuition, Ingvar Kamprad for his human touch and economical approach. I don’t have a designer in mind, but I choose an artist instead; Salvador Dalí for his madness and aesthetic qualities.

4) Can you suggest your favorite books?
“Ways of Seeing” by John Berger and “Design as Art” by Bruno Munari. For personal reading, “Kafka on The Shore” by Haruki Murakami.

5) What do you think of “American” design?
It is hard to tell because I haven’t gotten the whole picture yet. If I think about America spontaneously, I think about the 50′s style, which is really boring. It feels like going backwards instead of looking into the future. But I think we have the same problem in Sweden with nostalgia.
 The design in America is not so modern. It’s more about the value of brand which makes it difficult to talk about the surface. But if you get into details, you can figure out some differences when comparing us. For example; Americans use more serifs in doing signage and in Scandinavia (Europe) we have a preference for sans serifs. This is the US romantic style where Scandinavia is more functional. We are more connected to humanity and nature, and in America you are more connected to business.

6) What is the difference between good and great design?
Good design is when it works and great design is when it creates something more. Something memorable.

7) How do you define a good leader?
An empathic confident person who is open-minded and has the courage to listen to other people, a person who gives you the feeling of being safe even though she/he don’t have all the answers. Nobody has all the answers. I hate leaders who become teachers and make use of his/her position to exercise control. We are all grown ups so we should all be on the same level no matter what kind of role we have.

8) What is the design scene like in Sweden? (You can talk about the trends. or if there are many young talents, any great design agencies there? Or do most migrate to the US, or UK. What are the trends…and what’s the future of design in Sweden?)
I begin with the last question; the future in Sweden looks great. We have everything to succeed though Sweden is a society which today is built upon the engineering knowledge. It is a great foundation to build on. And we have a lot of really talented designers. All are talented because of their own interest and their own effort. In the past, we designers had to go to private schools to get our education and it was expensive. Not everyone could afford it and not everyone had the talent to get through the exams.

In the last couple of years, our design education changed. It is now more competitive. You can’t be just a designer/ artist, you have to be more than that. The next step is to know business, and how to use design to differentiate the outcome. In Sweden everything looks alike today. We are a bit surface-oriented, and good ideas are copied between companies and brands just because it looks good. Many business leaders want to copy instead of choosing something that is unique for his/her business. And designers haven’t figured out yet how to make the customer feel secure in trying something new. I think many designers are fed up with that so some go to other countries. When they come back they are highly sought after by design agencies.

This effect is peculiar because you can still be the same designer as you were before you went. The only difference is that you had the opportunity to practice what you already knew…in a foreign country. 

We have some agencies that I think are great*, but still I miss the ones you can find in America, where the knowledge of business and branding are important. In Sweden we say that we know branding, but we don’t.

Ohlsonsmith – This agency has a lot to offer when it comes to the aesthetic part. Barbro, whom is the founder and creative director, is a real artist. The ground platform for this agency is emotional design, which is great if you are going to build brands.

9) What makes you happy?
When I am in the middle of something and forget about time.

10) If you were not a designer, what would you want to be?
There aren’t any other options.

Some other cool Sweedish designers and agencies:
Hjartasmarta – These two girls were in my school. A year behind me and I envy them (in a good way). They have found a unique genetic code together. It is very special. Their collaboration is everything and for that I respect them a lot. Imagine to find a person that brings out the best of you……

Happy – An award-winning and big agency.

Essen – A brand + design agency

Kontrapunkt – A danish one..:)