Search

Friday Five with Jens Fager

Swedish designer Jens Fager is a name you should get used to hearing as he steadily climbs the design ladder making international waves for his interiors and product designs. After graduating from Stockholm’s Konstfack University in 2008, Fager quickly got to work designing for Muuto, Stelton, Edsbyn, Zero Lighting, Philippe Starck, and the Absolut company, and was even named Designer of the Year by Residence magazine right off the bat. Currently, he’s the creative director representing Sweden in the prestigious culinary competition Bocuse d’Or Europe 2014. Let’s see what this design dynamo covets in this week’s Friday Five.

F5-JENS-FAGER-1-OCEAN-Photo-Jens-Fager

1. Ocean
This is the sight from my mother-in-law’s house, close to where we live. After this evening’s dramatic transformation of weather, it turned out to be a totally clear blue sky with no wind. The ocean brings freshness and strength to your mind. Just a place to load up the energy and a perfect spot for my children to play and explore the nature.

Courtesy of Artek

Courtesy of Artek

2. Enzo Mari
Enzo Mari is one of the most influential persons to me. His balance of pragmatic thinking, playfull ideas, high-end engineered products with a sense of humor, and poetry, makes him one of the strongest designers ever. There are several brilliant products like GLOBO hanger for Magis, Putrella for Danese, and BOX chair for Castelli.

F5-JENS-FAGER-3-BREAD-Photo-Jens-Fager

3. Bread
I worked as professional chef before I was getting into the design profession. I love baking my own bread, then you know exactly what you are eating and you get a much more interesting bread, with great taste. I have experimented a lot to reach this result and baking bread, is about a small world of science. Humidity, temperature, heat of the oven, and the way you prepare the dough gives the character to the bread and of course, the wonderful taste. Just the smell of freshly baked bread in the morning gives some harmony and a feeling of wellness.

F5-JENS-FAGER-4-AXE-Photo-Jens-Fager

4. Axe
This is my axe produced by the Swedish company Gränsfors. For me, the axe is such a obvious tool. A tool made of two parts in a great balance. The beautiful wooden, curved helve is shaped for creating a massive strength and power during work. This, in combination with a hand smith axe head in Swedish steel, makes it perfection. An object where the beauty comes through a true need and perfect craftsmanship.

Courtesy of Braun

Courtesy of Braun

5. Watch
Many designers have tried to do cool watches in different concepts and cool materials, but without success. Of course this is my personal point of view. Dieter Rams’ watch for Braun is the essence of a watch, their purpose and the expectations you have of a watch. The visuals and graphics are clear and this in combination with great chosen materials, makes it almost accomplished. Why I say “almost” is just because I mean everything can always be better…

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.