At Formland Autumn 2009 the MCH Herning Fairs presents Normann Copenhagen, particularly Hang – a lamp designed by Rikke Hagen, who has combined form, function and aesthetics in a simple design. Hang is a part of the New Danish Modern, which are Danish designs and Danish production. The expression is a significantly shaped classical piece.

The inspiration behind Hang is retro forms that make Hang a classic design object that fits most homes. It is timeless and the epitome of design traditions that we are proud of in Denmark.

When we speak of Danish design, we speak often about function, aesthetics and form. Precisely these properties make Hang a good example. Hang is very simple and has a more functional than decorative expression. I think that is liberating, because if the lamp can wear it alone, it is complete. It is not postulated. It is what it is, explains Rikke Hagen.

Hang is produced using traditional methods of production of a metal printing on Amager. It’s glossy exterior and matt interior comes in black and white and in two sizes.

New Danish Modern is a new line from Normann Copenhagen, which has roots in the Danish design tradition where quality and attention to detail is a priority. The line is designed by Denmark’s best designers and is exclusively produced in Denmark with care for the design idea and crafts design. The concept is based on furniture art, so the line will be available in smaller productions.

Besides Rikke Hagen is currently supporting these Danish designers with the New Danish Modern: Ole Jensen, Jesper K. Thomsen, Søren Ulrik Petersen, Claydies, Peter Johansen & Thomas Bentzen and others.

Stair ladders are manufactured in solid birch and have an extended grip on one side, that you can hold on to. This makes it suitable for people of all ages, whether it’s your child who has to reach the kitchen table, or you who needs to get something that is up in a cupboard. The steps are ergonomic and good to stand on. Even at the uppermost level, you are safe and comfortable with one hand on the extended grip.

Stair Ladders are functional and are good and safe to use daily. The special-designed brass fittings ensure that the ladder does not slip.

After use, the ladder can be folded together and hung on the wall using the included Wall Bracket and therefore is always at hand when you need it. It is simultaneously a simple tool that is reliable and display furniture when not in use.

The first product was in clear lacquer, but the latest products are also available in the colors black, white and orange, so you have the opportunity to create contrast or harmony in your home.

This was based on the know-how in working with løvgrene that characterize the area of the Limousin region of France that he comes from.

The big French stall at Formland Autumn 2009 in Fairs MCH Herning shows Alain Dupasquier results of his creativity and his efforts. It takes the form of outdoor garden furniture from the chestnut-Limousin region – sofas, stools and chairs for adults and children.

Chestnut from Limousin-region has a lot of tannin, so they do not rot. Therefore it lends itself particularly well to have outdoor furniture. Chestnut resist insects and bad weather, and if you leave the furniture standing out, they quickly get a beautiful silver gray tinge.

Besides pursuing an old rural tradition Alain Dupasquier also uses the local ecological resources.

A total of seven design are represented at the great French stall at Formland in Autumn 2009. The tool is organized by the Franco-Danish company Abildgaard Consult Ltd and the director, Pia Abildgaard, is Danish.

April 2009

Georg Jensen Takes Danish Design to the Next Level

Scandinavian luxury lifestyle brand Georg Jensen has appointed designer Todd Bracher Creative Director of the brand and head of a new creative force consisting of the Georg Jensen internal design team, the Georg Jensen designer network and Copenhagen based design consultants OeO. 

April 30, 2009 – Today Georg Jensen announced that Todd Bracher will take the reins at Georg Jensen as Creative Director, responsible for the full range of Georg Jensen products from jewellery and watches to flatware and hollowware. Todd Bracher will take up his new position on May 1st.  Together with Georg Jensen’s in-house product development team and Georg Jensen’s unique designer network, Bracher and OeO will energize and align the future design and brand vision. 

As part of the new strategy Todd Bracher will be working together with his long-time partner Thomas Lykke and Anne-Marie Buemann from OeO, a Danish based, and strategy-driven design company with vast experience from the design industry. The new set-up allows Georg Jensen to unite the best of today’s Danish and international design competencies with a strong strategic and commercial approach to new product introductions.  

“I am thrilled and honoured to be joining Georg Jensen. To be part of this brand and to help sculpt its vision has been a long-term dream for me. Georg Jensen has a specific language and intelligence, it communicates on so many levels.  The possibilities are endless and we intend to explore them”, Todd Bracher says. 

The appointment of Todd Bracher is part of the strategy that CEO Ulrik Garde Due introduced when he joined the company from British top fashion label Burberry last year. A strategy, which is turning the traditional Danish Silversmith into a Scandinavian luxury lifestyle brand with an integrated product range. 

“Todd Bracher was an obvious choice for the position as Creative Director. He is perfectly aware of the brand’s many qualities and appreciates the craftsmanship and the unique sense of style. Yet, he has a young and fresh approach to continue the creative developments. I am convinced he will be able to take Georg Jensen to the next level”, Ulrik Garde Due says. 

Since 1904 Georg Jensen has succeeded in attracting and working with some of the most talented designers around the globe. One of these talented designers is Todd Bracher who has designed for Georg Jensen since 2004 and will now be in charge of identifying and supporting the next generation of design stars, joining such legendary artists as Georg Jensen, Arne Jacobsen and Henning Koppel. 

When, back in 1999, Todd moved to Denmark to study in Copenhagen at the Danish Design School he soon became fascinated by the Danish design tradition and shortly after launched his own beautiful sculptural furniture and home accessories for Danish and international companies such as Fritz Hansen and Zanotta. 

“The works of Georg Jensen himself, Henning Koppel and Arne Jacobsen have shaped who I am as a designer and are the very reason why I eventually moved to Denmark to look ‘behind the scenes’ at the source of these works. I discovered that the forms of the Georg Jensen collection capture the generosity and elegance that is built into the Danes and their way of life”, says Todd, who, at Georg Jensen, will be defining the brand’s future design philosophy.  

“Design is much more than creating forms and shapes. It is about the heart and mind that has produced it. For us to maintain brand coherence we must define what the heart must feel and the mind think and the rest will follow”, Todd Bracher says. 

Critics might argue that asking a foreigner to take the Georg Jensen design language into the future is not the obvious thing to do. That it would take a native Dane to understand the true essence of Georg Jensen – the tradition, the story and the role the Silversmithy has played in creating the term Danish Design. 

“The heritage is huge and the responsibility is vast. Part of Todd’s training was here in Copenhagen, which mixed with his international experience allows us to get an external point of view of Danish design with an internal understanding. For me it is bringing in the right person who in his soul understands where Georg Jensen is coming from and who has the skills, the courage and the ability to bring Georg Jensen and Danish design into the next century. To me Todd Bracher is that person,” Ulrik Garde Due states. 

Ulrik Garde Due, CEO  Todd Bracher, Creative Director

The idle life and the pioneering design are in focus at Formland Spring 2009 in MCH Messecenter Herning. CANDY is the theme when Scandinavia’s biggest flagship within decorative art, design and interior accessories opens from 30 January to 2 February 2009.

Now Formland launches its trend theme for the fair in the spring of 2009. CANDY will be a holistic experience where all senses are exited. The visitors will experience a universe of dynamism, colours and energy in MCH Messecenter Herning. The optimism gets a sugar fix and according to Project Manager Lars Jespersen there will be room for commercial, new and creative thinking.

- CANDY radiates optimism and new ideas at a time when the financial crisis also affects the design industry. It is an important factor that Formland rises to the occasion when the industry is having a hard time. First and foremost the fair is an important trading centre for the buyers – and here people get the latest inspiration. The visitors will therefore get a toolbox containing specific tools for implementing innovatory changes in their shop, Project Manager Lars Jespersen, MCH Messecenter Herning Kongrescenter explains.

The visitors will find that CANDY plays a unifying role throughout the fair. Both as regards colours and at the trend areas where the style is based on the theme. CANDY is also reflected in the food at the trend cafés and in the various talks with famous experts and people from the industry.

Think differently – THINK PINK

In the trend zone THINK PINK you will be able to have different, creative thoughts. Based on the colour pink which is one of the hottest colours of the season the stage is set for creativity, happiness and optimism in the zone. According to Trend Stylist Anette Eckmann those are important key words for obtaining the required progress it takes if you want to survive in the design sector.

- In times of recession we have to think differently and to be positive so the sentiment can be changed from negative to positive. Businesses managing to challenge the consumer’s endless desire for renewal will get out of the crisis successfully. THINK PINK is about daring to say yes to the future, to the hope and the new possibilities, Anette Eckmann from Eckmann Alive says. THINK PINK consists of products from Formland’s exhibitors – everything from famous brands to brand new designs.

New Note accelerates

The new and pioneering designs will yet again have their own area at Formland. The New Note area which includes well-known trademarks and brands, e.g. within furniture and interior accessories, was launched in the autumn of 2008 – and with great success. The area will be even bigger at the fair in 2009. The selection of brands has already started and Trend Consultant Mads Arlien-Søborg, who is the curator for the area, will be responsible for the selection. Among the New Note exhibitors you will find We do Wood, Mater, Lene Toni Kjeld and Sort of Coal.

It will also be here at the New Note area that you find the new and promising designs. Wildcards are granted to a number of new and talented designers who will exhibit their own products in the hall. The designers come from ‘Designskolen i Kolding’ (the design school in Kolding) and the Danish Design School in Copenhagen. 

Formland Spring 2009 will take place from 30 January to 2 February 2009 in MCH Messecenter Herning. Approx. 600 exhibitors will attend Scandinavia’s biggest trade fair for design, decorative art and interior accessories. In 2009 Formland can celebrate its 25th anniversary. This will be celebrated both at the fair in the spring and at Formland Autumn 2009, on 14-17 August. Read more about the fair and the trend theme CANDY at www.formland.com.

‘Lean achieves a wonderful relationship between functionality and form. Outdoor life gains a new dimension with the beach chair, which is sculpturally wonderful and carefully thought through. The designer has created a beautiful interpretation of a popular classic, very successfully combining material preparation and aesthetic expression’, the prize committee’s award statement explains. The committee of judges have placed emphasis on design, innovation, functionality and price.

Designer behind a chair for The Crown Prince
Lean was created by 44 year old Hans Sandgren Jakobsen. The Danish designer was trained at Den Danske Designskole in Copenhagen and has worked for, among others, a Japanese design company. Hans Sandgren Jakobsen is the man behind several pieces of innovative furniture, including the PINGO chair which was an entry to the ‘A chair for Crown Prince Frederik’ competition arranged by Dansk Møbelindustri. Hans Sandgren Jakobsen has won a number of design prizes in the course of his career and he has participated in exhibitions both in Denmark and abroad.

Hans Sandgren Jakobsen has created with Lean a piece of furniture which is easy to take on family trips to the beach. The chair can be quickly and simply unfolded and is equally easy to fold up again. Lean is, in addition to beach trips, perfect for concerts, picnics, barbecues or as a children’s TV chair. The recommended retail price for Lean is from DKK 1,795 to 1,995.

Five nominated for the Formland Design Award
Five Formland exhibitor products were nominated for the Formland Design Award – Spring 2008. Nominations in addition to Lean from Trip Trap Denmark were the sustainable cushion The Cushion from poy poy copenhagen, the porcelain Cammeo series from Holmegaard/Kähler, Eva Solo dishcloth from Eva Denmark and the PLOPP footstool from HAY. 77 products were entered for the prize.

The committee of judges were Bo Bedre’s co-editor Charlotte Ravnholt, graphic designer John Boye, creative manager Jørn Moesgaard and designer and furniture architect Birgitte Appelong. The Formland Design Award has been awarded since 1987.

‘HAY with PLOPP challenges the conventional footstool, and the result is both experimental and surprising. It is a product which demands that you form an opinion. The soft appearance makes you want to touch the footstool. PLOPP is a piece of furniture and a sculpture for the modern home’, states the prize committee in their nomination. 

PLOPP consists of two thin steel plates which have been chiselled in the required format. The edge is then welded and water is injected at high pressure into the closed item. The material then expands out into the required shape under controlled conditions. The result is a new piece of steel furniture, which through its design is reminiscent of plastic furniture, but which has the solidity and durability of steel.

The footstool is both solid and durable. HAY therefore gives a 100 year guaranty on PLOPP. The recommended retail price is DKK 1,499
 

‘The elegant shape and environmental materials make The Cushion from poy poy copenhagen a successful and sustainable new product. The cushion is available in smart versions which have a fresh design that appeals in particular to graphic and minimalist types. The cushion also has a very delicate range of colours’, the prize committee states.

The Cushion’s core is of high density polyethylene (PE) foam, which is one of the most environmentally friendly plastics. The material does not inflict any significant impact on the environment and only releases CO2 and water during total combustion. 

The cushion is available in three versions. The coated cushion is for indoor and outdoor living and can be washed with a damp cloth or under running water. The second version is 100 % furniture wool, which is dirt repellent. This version is therefore very suitable for dining room tables in particular. The final version is a combination of 100 % wool on the one side and coated materials on the other.

The recommended retail price for The Cushion is DKK 450.

Of these, 48 exhibitors come from abroad – more than half of them from Sweden – while the others are distributed between Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, and Spain. Formland is offering six trend zones with the latest trends, a new area entitled FASHION, and the large hardware hall with leading suppliers such as Rosendahl, Royal Copenhagen, and Eva Denmark.

“Formland Spring 2008 is the trade fair where visitors can see the latest trends and meet exhibitors from Denmark and abroad. One of the hottest themes in the retail trade right now is hybrid shops, and this can be seen among Formland’s exhibitors who will bring along a host of innovations in the fields of applied art, interiors, jewellery, handbags, and furniture,” relates Project Manager Lars Jespersen from MCH Messecenter Herning Kongrescenter.

Growing trends at Formland
Scandinavian design is flourishing at the trend zone HOThouse in Hall D under the influence of global cultures and local design. The trend bureau Eckmann Alive is in charge of the zone with a series of current Hot Spot themes – among them recycling, ecology, and ethical responsibility – themes that are illustrated through such means as exhibitors’ innovations and products. Another Formland trend zone is villAlive in Hall C. The house of the future was designed by TechnologyDenmark and can best be described as an experiment in lifestyle. The house breaks out of the square framework because it comprises two staggered ellipses one on top of the other. This offers families new options so they can spread out through five rooms. villAlive will be equipped with modern interiors during the Formland Fair.

The other trend zones at Formland Spring 2008 are the trend cafés: A World of Colours, Diva Lounge, and Aqua Lounge, as well as Wellness Lounge where visitors can take a break in the central corridor of Hall M.

Familiar brands in new FASHION area
FASHION is the latest step taken at Formland. The focus of the area is fashion and it offers popular brand-name products and collections in shoes, clothes, handbags, and jewellery, and much more. There are more than 50 companies in the FASHION area and among the exhibitors attending for the first time are Adax / Maanii by Adax, Balschmidt Agentur ApS, and Boasko A/S. The latter is the Danish agent for the well-known British shoe brand, Fly London.
“We have also previously had fashion exhibitors. We have now gathered them in a new, joint FASHION area. We have found that visitors are increasingly looking for fashion products. This makes it a natural development for Formland to expand with new exhibitors and product groups,” emphasises Lars Jespersen, MCH.

Trade fair centre with a new name
From 1 January 2008 the group behind Messecenter Herning changed names to MCH. This is part of the group’s vision and plan to become Scandinavia’s leading arranger of trade fairs, cultural arrangements and events. MCH comprises MCH Messecenter Herning, MCH Herning Kongrescenter and MCH SAS Arena.

Mimondo wish to be a part of the international market for kids furniture by focusing on new and innovative thoughts concerning design, production and use of materials.

Mimondo wish to create an enviroment for the kids where they can be inspired and use their fantasy thereby increasing the quality of life.

Mimondo is different and innovative. All our furniture are of high Danish quality, produced and developed to an exceptionel design. The shape of the beds questions the perception of how a bed for kids can be shaped and look.

Mimondo develop kids furniture that stimulates and expands the curiousity and creativity among the kids. It is important that the kids takes initiative and uses their fantasy exploring the world.

The founders of Mimondo are Klaus Bjerre Jensen & Karsten Spaabaek.

Designed by Gudiksen

www.mimondo.dk