Emma Olbers Design

Emma Olbers is a Swedish designer and creative director. Her mission is to try to design good products – good from all aspects, including being good for our planet. In her studio at Södermalm in Stockholm, where she has been working for over 20 years, sustainability has been consistent throughout everything she creates. Products should preferably be made from low carbon or recycled materials, be carefully produced and last for a long time. She has collaborated with a number of Scandinavian companies, from Skagerak in Denmark to Skultuna, Asplund, Tre Sekel and Eldvarm in Sweden.

As a designer, I really enjoy being involved in every step of the design process – from the development of products and portfolios to branding and everything in between. I believe that sustainability and product lifecycles are key concerns and core values that I strives to incorporate in my work. Those concerns can translate into using recyclable and reusable components, thinking carefully of which materials to use and of course avoiding the use of harmful substances in production altogether. An ultimate vision is to be able to create products and furniture that, after a long and rich furniture life, can go directly on the compost heap when they are scrapped. Designwise, I have a strong affinity to the Scandinavian design tradition and my objective is to design products that are contemporary and at the same time down-to-earth.

I grew up on a farm on the outskirts of Gothenburg in the west of Sweden. At the age of 20 I moved to Stockholm and started my education to become at designer (first at Nyckelviksskolan and then at Beckmans School of Design). I started my own studio in 1999 and I have been working from there since. Over the years I have been working with a number of different furniture producers, from mulitnationals such as Ikea, to small start-ups. During the last years the focus has been to work in tight creative collaborations with a few Scandinavian furniture brands and also doing interiors lika the Old Library at the National Museum. 

Exhibitions: Where does it come from, where does it go? (2016), Talking Pieces (2016), Om trä, möbler med tanke (2014), Home Sweet Home (2013), Ett, två, trä! (2013), Stockholm Wood (2012).

Educations: World Eco, Stockholm Resilience Centre (2019), Sustainable Fashion Academy (2008), Beckmans Design School, Product Design (1997-1999), Nyckelviksskolan (1996).