Interview with Jerk Thomsgard

Jerk Thomsgard is Design Manager at Spennare AB, a Swedish producer of portable displays. Spennare produces and distributes display systems worldwide for all kinds of presentations, trade fair booths and other events. The innovative design of the portable “Pop Up S10” display system impressed the jurors of this year’s “red dot award: product design” so much that they awarded it a “red dot: best of the best”. In an interview with red dot, Jerk Thomsgard shared his thoughts on why the maxim of “form follows function” represents an outdated cliché to him.

What were the challenges you had to overcome in the concept of the Pop Up S10?
Jerk Thomsgard: One difficult task was to make the design look natural and “seamless”, despite the fact that the whole structure is completely foldable and hence has many moving parts. Getting away from the classical look of these kinds of products was definitely a challenge. However, more importantly, it also opened many doors to new and really good features in the product.

Did ecological aspects also play a role in its development?
Jerk Thomsgard: Basically, there are two things a designer can do to minimise the ecological impact of his or her product. The first thing is of course to make sure that every product that leaves the production line is as effective as possible in aspects such as energy consumption, shipping space and use of recyclable and environmentally friendly materials. For us at Spennare, and many others, this is by now a natural part of the development process. The second and maybe even more important aspect is to design and manufacture good quality and durable products. Because of the Pop Up S10’s changeable graphic panels, the main part of the product remains when the images are changed. The environment benefits from less waste. The customer benefits from a good quality product and lower maintenance costs. Sceptics might say we will sell fewer products since they last longer. We say we will gain new customers – and they last longer.

When would you say a product is well designed?
Jerk Thomsgard: A product is well designed when the customer is completely satisfied with it, full stop. The satisfaction can come from any given reason, including price, performance or just simply its good looks. Needless to say, one of the most important aspects of design is to know what customers are really looking for in the product. Surprisingly, one still often hears the old cliché “form follows function,” which is completely outdated, and even untrue in today’s mass-consumption society. Form is function, yet only one of many others. It is up to the producer to find out exactly how the consumer prioritises the different functions and design the product accordingly. With the Pop Up S10, I think we came pretty close to that.

In your opinion, what is the importance of design against the
backdrop of a globalised economy?
Jerk Thomsgard: Since design is basically all about knowing what your customers want, I think that design will both act as a challenge and an opportunity. The main challenge in the future will be to achieve and maintain brand and design credibility with increasingly varied groups of consumers. On the other hand, this will create great opportunities for those who actually do manage to tap into consumers’ needs and design their products accordingly. This will set them apart from other producers who follow a less consumer-focused approach.

As an example, with the Pop Up S10 we have, not surprisingly, tried to minimise production costs. However, a large portion of these cuts are reinvested directly into boosting the design and the quality of that very same product. This strengthens the Spennare brand and its design values, and sets us apart from companies that focus mainly on price. And so far it seems to be working just fine.