Drawing on a rich heritage of Scandinavian design, Electrolux believes a thoughtful attitude is the key to successful product design.
March 31st, 2009
As Head of Global Design operations for Electrolux, Henrik Otto is pivotal to the company’s design philosophy, design practice and the outcome of this: its products. Joining Electrolux in 2004, Otto was a central part of Electrolux’s strategy to increase its investment in design and product development – and a smart investment it was.
Otto feels it is his job to generate space and creative freedom for the company’s designers. “I think we have to dare to be different,” Otto says. “How are people going to notice the difference if they don’t even see it in the design? We have to be passionate about our products and our work.”
Electrolux products, he says, should be rediscovered every time you approach them. “You have to draw people to your product,” Otto says. “And you do that by being desirable andw recognisable.”
“Cars and vacuum cleaners are stand-alone products; you can create a unique design. Kitchen appliances have to work together. There you are on the borderline between interior architecture, furniture design and product design. So it has to fit in, but still say who it is. That is a challenge.”
Sustaining the Electrolux brand is its unique design philosophy, based on its Scandinavian heritage of thoughtful design. “It’s not so much about a design language, but about the attitude to how you go about solving a design challenge,” Otto says.
The basis for thoughtful design is to understand the consumer’s desires and preferences. The result is a perfect combination of functionality, sustainability, usability, visual appearance, touch and feel.
“Most of the time a fridge or oven is closed or unused. But while it is sitting there, it has to stir up emotions, to give you that feel-good factor,” Otto says. “Every time you look at it, it has to confirm your desires.”
A searchable and comprehensive guide for specifying leading products and their suppliers
Keep up to date with the latest and greatest from our industry BFF's!
In the bid to balance the desire to live amongst nature with the modest footprint of today’s homes, designer Victoria Azadinho Bocconi looks for inspiration in the depths of the Amazon jungle.
Natural forms meet technological sophistication to produce GH Commercial’s Pattern Perfect® Native Collection of carpets. Step inside the factory to see how local flavours inform the design.
Explore the radical new organisation strategy which accommodates for the hybrid future of work.
Bidding farewell to mundane and uninspired office spaces, colour has transformed our workplaces into layered and engaging environments. So we sit down with Karina Simpson, Hot Black’s Workplace Lead, to talk about the influence colour has on the workspace landscape through the prism of Herman Miller’s progressive colour philosophy.
Clever, compact and cohesive rethinking of the vanity unit triumphed at this year’s Reece Bathroom Innovation Award (BIA) with the careful balance of aesthetic and multi-functionality key for this year’s winners
In the times when – perhaps more than ever – we crave stability, confidence and certainty, the world appears to be in a constant state of flux. However, Schiavello’s latest research indicates that if organisations lean into that change, they can flourish.
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
Functional and concise, the designs of Noom are an exercise in craft and artisanship. Composed of simple geometric shapes, each piece is made in the designers’ Ukraine workshop.
Timber has always had a significant role to play in environmentally sensitive construction; Now, two different timber technologies have revolutionised timber’s use for structural applications.
A new Reconciliation Garden at the University of Queensland’s (UQ) Herston campus showcases the power of collaborative design. The project saw a partnership between Arcadia, Multhana Property Services and representatives of Traditional Owners of the land.
A grand stage demands a grand performance and the interior architecture at The Charles Grand Brasserie and Bar lives up to its surroundings at 66 King Street. With multiple hospitality functions offset against music venue TIVA down below, these elegant spaces contain more than a hint of Old World decadence.