Who will be this year’s Nordic Designer 2012? Here are the people who will decide

The jury with the task of selecting the winner of the NOVA Design Award 2012 has now been finalized. The winner will be named Nordic Designer of the Year 2012 and will receive their award during the Formex design mingle at PUB on August 16.

“The Award was established in 2011 and was immediately a huge success. Formex is the Nordic region’s largest meeting place for everyone active in interior design and the idea behind the Nova design prize, which we award in association with Plaza Interiör, is to draw attention to and encourage promising young Nordic designers,” explains Chicie Lindgren, Event Manager for Formex.

This year the jury consists of Pascale Cottard-Olsson, founder of Gallery Pascale, journalist Lotta Lewenhaupt, furniture designer Anya Sebton, Professor of the History of Design & Crafts Kerstin Wickman, as well as design writer and creative director Hanna Nova Beatrice.

The prize consists of two parallel exhibitions: one at the spring Formex trade fair and one at Gallery Pascale, which gives the general public a chance to see and buy the winner’s products, as well as an article in Plaza Interiör magazine and an activity worth up to 50,000 SEK.

“Nordic design is famous all over the world and now that we live in an increasingly globalized world, it feels important to exhibit national cultural and design differences as well. Design is an integral part of our Nordic heritage and it’s important to showcase new designers who are destined to develop into big names in the Nordic countries,” reasons Pascale Cottard-Olsson, founder of Gallery Pascale and producer.

“By encouraging young Nordic designers, we’re increasing their opportunity to be seen and improving their chances of getting their designs into production. It’s thrilling to see the enterprising spirit in action and the way many people are discovering innovative ways of getting their designs noticed,” says Anya Sebton, a furniture designer who has been called one of the most in-demand talents in Scandinavian design.

“It’s both enormous fun and extremely important to acknowledge the Nordic designers of tomorrow. Nordic design has a huge international reputation and many European countries are looking enviously at us. We must take advantage of this fact. We also have so many talented designers here,” says Hanna Nova Beatrice, design writer and creative director.

“I think it feels important to look at Nordic design from a Nordic/Scandinavian perspective; we share a climate, traditions and temperament in many ways, which is something you see increasingly in the work of the young generation of designers,” comments design journalist Lotta Lewenhaupt.

“As a member of the Formex Nova jury, I’m extremely happy to be able to highlight promising young designers. The talented designers who have recently graduated and taken the first steps in their professional lives really need all the attention they can get. A nomination or an award can mean everything to their future careers,” points out Kerstin Wickman, Professor of the History of Design and Crafts.

The Nova Nordic Designer of the Year 2012 award ceremony will take place during the Formex design mingle at PUB on August 16.

To find out more, please visit www.formex.se or contact:
Ida Mlowe, Press Officer ida.mlowe@stockholmsmassan.se or call +46 8 749 44 13

Formex will take place on 16-19 August 2012 at Stockholmsmässan. Formex is the meeting place for innovations, business, trends, knowledge and inspiration. The exhibition is held twice a year, with 850 exhibitors, 25,000 trade visitors and 850 media representatives.