Kurbits Appeal: Intv with Anna Engström

Posted by Tiffany on March 4th, 2011    Add your comment »

If you’re as big a fan of design blogs as I am (and I’m thinking you just may be), then you’ve probably stumbled across our featured designer, Anna Engström, before – at her blog, red.house design.

I knew I’d found a kindred spirit when I discovered her blog, but then I found out what a talented designer she happens to be too. And now I’m over the moon to finally be able to feature her here.

Usually you can also find Anna at her redhousedesign shop, but for this month only, she’s exclusively ours.

And so is this very special interview with her. Enjoy!

FS: Where in Sweden did you grow up?

AE: My family is from from Gothenburg (Göteborg) in southwest Sweden. We lived in a couple of other places in Sweden too over the years, but Gothenburg has always felt like home.

But what feels even more like home is our summer house. It’s very common for Swedes to have a summer house on the coast. No matter where in the country we lived, the summer months were always spent at our summer house on the Swedish west coast. Today, when my husband and I go home to visit, we go to the summer house, it’s my favorite place in the world!

A collection of pictures Anna keeps on display. photo: anna engström

FS: Where do you live now?

AE: Today, I live in Boston with my husband who is an American (though fluent in Swedish). I moved here 10 yrs ago for school. There are fantastic design schools in Sweden, but somehow I felt I needed a challenge and a new experience so I decided I wanted to go abroad. I chose to do Industrial Design at Wentworth Institute of Technology because they have a great co-op program.

FS: And you decided to stay!

AE: Yes, after some internships in Boston and Gothenburg, and completing my degree, I took a full time job at ELEVEN Design Studio in Boston. That led me to IDEO, where I now work as a Principal Designer focused on research, strategy, brand and product development.

Bright colors of the living room. photo: anna engström

FS: How do you think growing up in Sweden has influenced your perspective on design?

AE: There you have a society where design is not only highly valued, but you are also surrounded by good examples. Being a ‘designer’ isn’t just a profession, it’s a hobby that everyone does! I think that has had a huge influence on me.

Sweden is a stylish country – and it’s not just in fashion. Even the public spaces and transit systems are well designed. There’s a lot of design thinking that goes into everything, and some of that is just in my blood.

Inspiration everywhere. photo: anna engström

FS: And how about your life here in America? Do you ever see those influences creeping in too?

AE: Nature has always inspired me, and New England nature reminds me a lot of Swedish nature. Nature’s own patterns are the most beautiful ones. I went to Harvard’s Museum of Natural History for the first time last fall where they have an amazing botanical collection of beautiful drawings and glass models of flowers. I keep going back there for more inspiration. Charley Harper is a fantastic American artist who I admire a lot and who uses nature as his primary source of inspiration.

A glimpse of Anna’s inspiration board. photo: anna engström

FS: Any other big sources of inspiration?

AE: Colors have always inspired me. My friend Tina keeps reminding me that sometimes just black can be beautiful, but I need color!

So many things inspire me, lots of packaging inspire my patterns, especially Swedish packaging. One of my favorites are the Arla milk packages, and then there’s the baking powder and cacao….. and I love intricate patterns like the Kusmi tea tins.

Swedish food packaging provides good inspiration. photo: anna engström

AE: The list of artists, illustrators and designers who inspire me is endlessly growing, but here are some near the top… Swedish textile and furniture designer Josef Frank is one of my all time favorites. Then there are other Scandinavian designers like Hanna Werning, Sanna Annukka, and Lotta Kuhlhorn. Also Spanish illustrator Fernando Volken Togni.

FS: We have very similar tastes, you and I. : ) How do you describe your design style?

AE: Colorful, playful, purposeful, approachable….. my goal is to add a little bit more fun and playfulness in there. I hope my patterns brighten peoples homes, make people happy when they look at them and connect them with Swedish culture.

Art from some of Anna’s favorites hang alongside her own. photo: anna engström

FS: Speaking of homes, do we see traces of your design style in your own home décor?

AE: Well bright colors would probably be the first thing you would notice if you came over to my house, our dining room is turquoise, our living room fern green and my studio is bright yellow. That’s just to mention a few….in fact every room has it’s own color.

I like the contrast of bright colors, I love mixing styles, textures and patterns. Our living room is a good example of this, where we’re mixing textiles from IKEA, with Josef Frank and Ludvig Svensson textiles.

Anna’s living room. photo: anna engström

AE: Our dining room is a good example of using different textures and styles. I like mixing mid century modern furniture with antiques as well as new furniture. Our dining table is made with old wood from a barn and has so much texture and character which is nicely balanced by the classic yellow Eames shells.

Anna’s dining room. photo: anna engström

FS: How do the designs you create come together for you?

AE: I rarely have a clear idea of what I want to make. I often pick up little bits and pieces of inspiration here and there and then while I’m on the phone or waiting for the bus I start sketching a few things in my sketchbook. The tough part is getting it from the sketchbook into a digital format :) Once I do sit down to start designing it on the computer I generally have an idea of what I want to do, but as I start creating the pieces, the pattern emerges on its own.

Another snippet of Anna’s inspiration board. photo: anna engström

FS: This month we’re featuring a series of prints you’ve done based on traditional “kurbits” patterns. What is kurbits?

AE: Kurbits was a decorative style of painting in the late 19th century originating from the region of Dalarna in Sweden. It was part of a larger folk art style called ‘allmoge ’style that was popular in the 17th-19th century especially within the peasant culture.

Kurbits paintings commonly depicted large flowers and leaves and became popular as paintings on furniture.

Dalecarlian kurbits paintings from the late 18th century – mid 19th century.

AE: Kurbits and allmoge are important to the Swedish cultural heritage – just think about one of our most important icons, the Dalahorse which is distinguished by it’s kurbits painting. Kurbits has had a significant revival in recent years both in Sweden and across the world, and today we see a great variety of modern versions of kurbits.

FS: Besides being based on the kurbits style, is your vertical pattern influenced by anything specific?

AE: The vertical kurbits pattern is very much inspired by vertical paintings of flowers and leaves on cabinets and cupboads. This is one of the most common kurbits paintings.

Anna’s Traditional kurbits, vertical black print. photo: anna engström

FS: How about your square ones that have a different kind of kurbits pattern?

AE: The square format seems to be less common from what I’ve come across in terms of kurbits paintings on furniture. It emerged out of exploring with pieces of kurbits as repeatable patterns.

Anna’s Kurbits square blue print. photo: anna engström

FS: The colors are so beautiful. What was your reference for those?

AE: A lot of the colors are inspired from original kurbits paintings as well. The combination of blue and red was very common. The black contrasted with white, red, green and yellow is inspired by the folk costume for the region of Dalarna. But some of the other color combinations emerged just from playing around with different colors.

Anna’s Kurbits square gray print. photo: anna engström

FS: Where are some of the places where your prints might look their best?

AE: As art they look great framed on your wall, or more casually placed on a shelf or hanging with clips. They’re meant to be everyday patterns, as the kurbits painting on the furniture was in the 19th century. Their symmetry and simple design makes them blend in and become part of your environment but the contrast of the colors make them stand out and hopefully brighten your home.

One day I would love to have my prints on textiles, furniture, tiles and more.

Two of anna’s most popular patterns.

FS: What is your biggest challenge right now?

AE: My biggest challenge is getting all those sketches from my sketchbook into my computer!! I have so many ideas in my sketchbook and even more in my head, it’s just a matter of finding the time to get it all into a pattern design.

FS: And what are you most excited about next?

AE: Right now I’m most excited about being featured on from Sthlm! :) Next, I’m excited about Spring and the release of some new patterns.

Lately, everyone around me is having kids and I’m getting lots of requests for kid’s patterns. I’m very excited about having a lot of fun designing patterns for both kids and their parents!

Fun inspiration in Anna’s studio. photo: anna engström

FS: Anna, we’re thrilled to have you here. We love your kurbits prints and can’t wait to see what you have in store for the kiddo’s!

Thanks Anna!

Anna’s colorful kurbits prints, made to brighten up any room… Get yours in the shop this month only!

---