Denmark

Jacobsen’s 3107, Swan and Egg chairs, as well as his Radisson SAS Royal Hotel, came out of Denmark’s golden age of design in the mid-20th century. This period, known as Danish Modern, was also a fruitful time for Hans Wegner, Paul Kjaerholm and Grete Meyer. Danish Modern was born out of a long tradition of craftsmanship and manifested itself mainly in furniture, lighting, ceramics, textiles and metalwork. Its clean style and the respect it showed for materials endowed it with a sense of timelessness and modernity.

Today, notable Danish designers include Kasper Salto, best known for his 2002 ice chair, and the furniture designer Cecelie Manz. But despite commanding international respect, the Danish design scene is arguably going through something of an identity crisis. David Fellah of Designit, one of Scandinavia’s largest design studios, has said: ’Danish design is still clinging to its Golden Age. If Danish design is merely a pretty chair from the 1950s, then there’s no room for it on the global market.’

Design promotion

The leading design organisation in Denmark is the Danish Design Centre, whose function is similar to the UK’s Design Council, with a remit to promote and support the design industry.

Although Scandinavia is often associated with innovative design, there’s a feeling within Denmark that its design industry is not reaching its potential. One report has noted that Danish designers could be more business-focused, and that the country is no longer making a sufficient impact on the international design scene.

In global terms, Denmark is still highly rated for design, but the Government is keen to do more. In 2005 the Ministry of Culture created a working group called Danish Edge as part of a four-year strategy to put Denmark back on the map. Danish Edge brings together the Danish Design Centre, Danish Crafts and the Danish Architecture Centre. It has been funded to the tune of 40m DDK (£3.7m) and its work so far includes promotional activities in New York and China, and travel grants for young Danish designers to improve their skills abroad.

Until recently the only membership body in Denmark was Danish Designers. Originally formed as a merger between IDD (Industrial Designers of Denmark) and MMI (Furniture Designers and Interior Architects of Denmark) it has more than 1,000 members.

In late October 2007, Danish Designers was joined by the Danish Design Association, a membership group for design companies. As of March 2008 the DDA has 16 members.

Facts and figures

Denmark’s design industry is dominated by small-scale work. Figures from 2001 showed that a massive 90% of design enterprises were single-employee businesses, and there were none with more than 50 employees.

Even so, there has been strong growth since the early 1990s. In 1992, the total turnover of the design industry was £40.25m. By 1997 it had risen to £107.1m, and by 2001 it was £156.7m.

Danish design specialisations break down into the following:

Graphic design: 32%
Product design: 26%
Textile/fashion design: 13%
Interior design: 11%
Furniture design: 9%
Technical design: 2%
Event design: 1%
Design planning/management: 1%

Education

Design in Denmark has traditionally been taught in schools of design and architecture, but a wider range of subjects, some as combined degrees, have sprung up in the past decade.

Designskolen Kolding  was founded in 1967. This design school has around 350 students in four institutes: Form & Theory, Fashion & Textiles, Visual Communication, and Industrial Design & Interactive Media.
For more information, visit www.deskol.dk

Den Grafiske Hojskole is a school of graphic design, founded in 1943. Programmes include interactive design, creative communication, media production, and TV and media directing.
For more information, visit www.dgh.dk

University of Southern Denmark offers a B.Sc. in Interactive Design.
For more information, visit www.sdu.dk