björn kusoffsky (stockholm design lab) interview

björn kusoffsky

designboom recently spoke to stockholm design lab‘s CEO and founder björn kusoffsky.

DB: please can you tell us the history of SDL? BK: thomas eriksson and I founded SDL in 1998, our aim was to start a multidisciplinary studio with an equal focus on strategy, graphic design and architecture. our design philosophy is rooted in scandinavian tradition and based on the fundamental ideas of simplicity, clarity, openness and innovation. we believe that the sum of all details constitutes the brand.

we were able to grow with our first comprehensive corporate identity programme, which was for SAS scandinavian airlines. this was a project that consisted of 2400 different applications, from aircraft livery, interiors, wet-wipes, tickets, uniforms and signage systems.

over the last 14 years SDL has handpicked employees with different skills to come and work in our non-hierarchical environment. at present there are 12 people here in the studio, but we also work with other architects and freelance designers.

how would you say the studio has evolved or changed since it began until today? one significant difference now is that we have a lot of clients from outside scandinavia, this is due to fact that our work has been published in books and magazines from places like china, japan, south korea, italy, latvia. in the last few years the coverage of our work on design blogs has increased somewhat and we suddenly received interest from completely different countries again, such as south africa, brazil and netherlands.

in terms of the types of projects I think we have always tried to find a balance between commercial work and cultural projects. in many cases our relationship with clients begins with a small project but then grows. which project have you enjoyed the most so far and what did you learn from it? the 53rd art biennial in venice. it was a complex, high profile and demanding project. having the courage to use the most simple idea, using the flags of the world to communicate the theme ‘making worlds’ and using it through all applications without compromise.

is there a certain quality that you strive to achieve in all of your work? access and excellence.

what would you consider the most important part of your design process? enjoy the white sheet of paper (the beginning). also enjoy the limitations.

what qualities do you look for in a new employee or intern? energy.

what qualities do you try and teach a new employee or intern? design quality.

what advice would you give to a young designer? I have always recommended: ‘how to work better’ by peter fischli and david weiss from 1991:

how to work better 1. do one thing at a time 2. know the problem 3. learn to listen 4. learn to ask questions 5. distinguish sense from nonsense 6. accept change is inevitable 7. admit mistakes 8. say it simple 9. be calm 10. smile

helly hansen packaging

helly hansen packaging – back

helly hansen packaging – side

ikea food packaging

askul glue stick

askul paper packaging

askul paper packaging askul wet-wipes

askul punch hole labels

askul stick fastener

askul battery packaging and batteries

askul batteries askul battery skin being printed askul magazine advertisement askul USB flash drives

venice biennial 2010 identity – the concept for the branding of the 53rd art biennial was to deconstruct and then reconfigure the national flags of participating countries