Glass design from Beckmans: Elin Åkerfeldt's glass is sold at Svenskt Tenn
- To be able to launch a product at a company like Svenskt Tenn is something that I, before I started at Beckmans, could only dream of. I am very grateful and proud that I was able to launch my glasses "Svalla" right there, in the company of many iconic designers and in such an ancient environment.
Annual glass course in the design program
In the second year of Product design ,students explore glass design in collaboration with Svenskt Tenn. In the course, Svenskt Tenn is the potential client. The students' assignment is to create a product or product series on the theme "the set table". For a number of weeks they work with research, sketches and sketch models and then finish by having their design blown up in the Stockholm glassworks in Gustavsberg by a professional glassblower. The course ends with a vernissage where one student receives a glass scholarship from Svenskt Tenn, which means further time in the glassworks to continue developing their product.
How has the process been from receiving the glass scholarship to the fact that your glasses can now be found in Svenskt Tenn's store?
-"After I received the scholarship from Svenskt Tenn, I continued to work with the glasses in parallel with my further studies at Beckmans. Over time, a series with several different glasses emerged. I wanted to create a contemporary glassware series with glasses that can accompany both everyday and party.
I sketched and made physical models, used drawing programs and 3D printed models, all to get the right proportions and feel. I also exchanged thoughts and ideas with my teacher Peter Nylander in the design program, which provided valuable feedback. Then I went to Sthlm Glas in Gustavsberg with the final plaster molds that I had cast. There, Simon Klenell, among others, helped me to blow up new prototypes in glass, which the grant from Svenskt Tenn paid for.
A few weeks later I was invited to Svenskt Tenn's headquarters and presented the series I had developed. They were surprised and impressed that it was not just one glass that was presented but a set of several glasses. During the meeting they offered me to take them into production. It felt unreal and was a dream come true.
After the contract was signed, I worked on getting the design ready for production. Molds in graphite that work for a larger production would be produced by a company that makes all kinds of molds. Here it turned out that the bottom of the glasses was a challenge that took time to get right. I had sculpted it in clay and molded it, but in the end it was solved with the help of 3D scanning. At the beginning of the year, I was at Skrufs glassworks when they blew up the first glasses and a few weeks later they landed at Svenskt Tenn.
What has been most fun and most difficult?
-"The whole journey has been very educational and exciting, but each step has also had its challenges. I think it's been a lot of fun to be on site and see the glass emerge in the glassworks and find it interesting and rewarding to talk to the glassblowers. That's probably one of the most fun things about the project - learning new things and getting to know the craftsmen. You get a great respect for their craft and get a greater understanding of what works in a production. While at Skruf, I also got to try blowing one of my own glasses, which was fun but difficult!
The hardest part has been learning to let go of control, it's no longer me leading the process. When I was at Beckmans, I did everything myself, made the molds, etc. Now I've had to communicate and convey my design and vision so that others understand it. It has also been a small challenge to know what I as a designer can compromise on and what I have had to stand by in order for the product I designed to be as I intended but still work in the best possible way in production.
What are you working on right now?
Now I have just started working as a set design assistant on a feature film which I am very excited about!
