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 Olivia's final project, entitled FREYA - is a series of modular furniture pieces designed especially for corridors.ARTSTHREAD: Can you explain the thinking behind the key concepts and outcomes of your project? Olivia Wärme: My concept started with the aim to enhance mental well being, and I found that beauty can be an important tool to achieve that goal. I experimented with visual beauty using a toy that aimed to find a visual representation of emotions, and took inspiration from nordic nature as well.One key aspect of the project was learning; how to promote the exchange of information with your peers in school settings. Through surveys and research, I found that the optimal way of learning is through the interaction with others - something which is not nurtured in the typical learning space, in classrooms, for example. I also wanted to find an unappreciated space of learning, which in this case was corridors, and turn it into the focal point. The final result of the thesis was four furniture modules: two stools and two cushions, which can be combined, grow and make visual artworks which create spaces for interaction. The installation can be ephemeral or more permanent, and there, we have the possibility to integrate technology in the form of a wireless charging surface on the top surface of the stool. The main point though, is how Freya transforms the empty corridor into a destination for interaction and beauty. ARTSTHREAD: Are you 100% back on campus or are you still working all/partly from home? Please describe your environment? Olivia Wärme: During the project, we were back on campus. Also, I was lucky enough to have a quiet studio apartment with this beautiful light and good space for working. However, whenever I needed to work on bigger physical models, I had to transport the pieces back and forth from the school workshop, so I tried to work there as much as possible. I think we all almost lived there at one point, all of us working on our models.  Olivia's project was created to enhance mental wellbeing, transforming what is usually an unused space into a functional space.ARTSTHREAD: Has being back on campus given you a new perspective on the university/your class colleagues/ tutors? Olivia Wärme: During the project, we were back on campus. After being away from campus, you notice how being online restricts you (it’s not as inspirational, and it’s hard to concentrate, you don’t have all of the tools). I developed an increased appreciation for working next to my peers, exchanging ideas with them, discussing, and learning from each other (which, in itself, was a highly inspirational factor to my thesis project). ARTSTHREAD: Did you need to innovate when you had to work by yourself at home? Olivia Wärme: At home, I did not have a proper desk, so whenever I needed to work on the computer, I sat in the bed with a pillow under the computer to lift it up a bit. Other than that, I made smaller experiments and models at home, but since we had a better workspace at school, I tried to work there as much as possible. ARTSTHREAD: What's one thing that has helped you get through the last 2 years? Olivia Wärme:What has helped me through the last few years, especially during tough and stressful times, is probably (of course) my colleagues and family, but also my passion for design and excitement of what comes next. ARTSTHREAD: What are the most positive learning outcomes from this process? Olivia Wärme: I am really glad that during my thesis project, I gained a lot of experience in the workshop and digital fabrication, and that I now have the confidence to say that I can develop a product from start to finish on my own. ARTSTHREAD: How do you think design can help improve the world? Olivia Wärme: I wanted to work within design because I believe that it can improve the world by helping people; mentally, physically, nowadays even in the structure and experience of interaction. I also believe that design can shape how we see the world, as well as serve as a reflection of society itself. For example, I find that southern european design focuses a lot on visual inputs, while up in the north, there was really no time for that, and tools became minimal, multifunctional and without ornamentation. That aspect, I think, is really interesting, and that was why I found it intriguing to study somewhere else - through design I could see how priorities were set in a different way in different parts of the world. ARTSTHREAD: What are your hopes for the future? Olivia Wärme: When thinking of the future, I have just moved back to the north of Sweden. Since there is a bit of a gap in the market here in regards to the kind of design that I typically practice, I hope to bring those practices further north and continue to develop products centered around multifunctionality and beauty. ARTSTHREAD: Thank you Olivia - we wish you all the very best! See Olivia’s ARTSTHREAD Portfolio Images in slider: Olivia and her work Our Global Design Graduate Show 2022 in collaboration with Gucci is open internationally to all art and design undergraduate or postgraduate students graduating in the Academic Year 2021-22 and the deadline to apply is August 31 2022. 
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In advance of the deadline for Global Design Graduate Show 2022 in collaboration with Gucci, we interview Olivia Wärme, a 2022 graduating student from IED Barcelona, Product Design Official Undergraduate Degree.
Our Global Design Graduate Show 2022 in collaboration with Gucci is open internationally to all art and design undergraduate or postgraduate students graduating in the Academic Year 2021-22 and the deadline to apply is August 31 2022.
See Olivia’s ARTSTHREAD Portfolio
ARTSTHREAD:Where are you from?
Olivia Wärme : Hi! My name is Olivia Wärme, I am from the coastal city Umeå in northern Sweden and I studied product design at IED in Barcelona.
ARTSTHREAD: What is the name, theme, concept and final outcome of your graduate project/thesis?
Olivia Wärme: My final project is called FREYA - it is a set of modular furniture pieces which turn corridors (a commonly forgotten, blank transportation space) into a space of interaction, beauty and well-being.
ARTSTHREAD:Can you describe your concept and creative process?
Olivia Wärme: I usually start off a project by expanding on key aspects of the brief, find connections, information, and develop my own direction. Like in my other projects, it was also important to me to develop a minimalistic, but simultaneously playful and multifunctional piece.
Olivia's final project, entitled FREYA - is a series of modular furniture pieces designed especially for corridors.ARTSTHREAD: Can you explain the thinking behind the key concepts and outcomes of your project?
Olivia Wärme: My concept started with the aim to enhance mental well being, and I found that beauty can be an important tool to achieve that goal. I experimented with visual beauty using a toy that aimed to find a visual representation of emotions, and took inspiration from nordic nature as well.One key aspect of the project was learning; how to promote the exchange of information with your peers in school settings. Through surveys and research, I found that the optimal way of learning is through the interaction with others - something which is not nurtured in the typical learning space, in classrooms, for example. I also wanted to find an unappreciated space of learning, which in this case was corridors, and turn it into the focal point.
The final result of the thesis was four furniture modules: two stools and two cushions, which can be combined, grow and make visual artworks which create spaces for interaction. The installation can be ephemeral or more permanent, and there, we have the possibility to integrate technology in the form of a wireless charging surface on the top surface of the stool. The main point though, is how Freya transforms the empty corridor into a destination for interaction and beauty.
ARTSTHREAD: Are you 100% back on campus or are you still working all/partly from home? Please describe
your environment?
Olivia Wärme: During the project, we were back on campus. Also, I was lucky enough to have a quiet studio apartment with this beautiful light and good space for working. However, whenever I needed to work on bigger physical models, I had to transport the pieces back and forth from the school workshop, so I tried to work there as much as possible. I think we all almost lived there at one point, all of us working on our models.
Olivia's project was created to enhance mental wellbeing, transforming what is usually an unused space into a functional space.ARTSTHREAD: Has being back on campus given you a new perspective on the university/your class colleagues/
tutors?
Olivia Wärme: During the project, we were back on campus. After being away from campus, you notice how being online restricts you (it’s not as inspirational, and it’s hard to concentrate, you don’t have all of the tools). I developed an increased appreciation for working next to my peers, exchanging ideas with them, discussing, and learning from each other (which, in itself, was a highly inspirational factor to my thesis project).
ARTSTHREAD: Did you need to innovate when you had to work by yourself at home?
Olivia Wärme: At home, I did not have a proper desk, so whenever I needed to work on the computer, I sat in the bed with a pillow under the computer to lift it up a bit. Other than that, I made smaller experiments and models at home, but since we had a better workspace at school, I tried to work there as much as possible.
ARTSTHREAD: What's one thing that has helped you get through the last 2 years?
Olivia Wärme:What has helped me through the last few years, especially during tough and stressful times, is probably (of course) my colleagues and family, but also my passion for design and excitement of what comes next.
ARTSTHREAD: What are the most positive learning outcomes from this process?
Olivia Wärme: I am really glad that during my thesis project, I gained a lot of experience in the workshop and digital fabrication, and that I now have the confidence to say that I can develop a product from start to finish on my own.
ARTSTHREAD: How do you think design can help improve the world?
Olivia Wärme: I wanted to work within design because I believe that it can improve the world by helping people; mentally, physically, nowadays even in the structure and experience of interaction. I also believe that design can shape how we see the world, as well as serve as a reflection of society itself. For example, I find that southern european design focuses a lot on visual inputs, while up in the north, there was really no time for that, and tools became minimal, multifunctional and without ornamentation. That aspect, I think, is really interesting, and that was why I found it intriguing to study somewhere else - through design I could see how priorities were set in a different way in different parts of the world.
ARTSTHREAD: What are your hopes for the future?
Olivia Wärme: When thinking of the future, I have just moved back to the north of Sweden. Since there is a bit of a gap in the market here in regards to the kind of design that I typically practice, I hope to bring those practices further north and continue to develop products centered around multifunctionality and beauty.
ARTSTHREAD: Thank you Olivia - we wish you all the very best!
See Olivia’s ARTSTHREAD Portfolio
Images in slider: Olivia and her work
Our Global Design Graduate Show 2022 in collaboration with Gucci is open internationally to all art and design undergraduate or postgraduate students graduating in the Academic Year 2021-22 and the deadline to apply is August 31 2022.