Interviewing Rickard Hederstierna
In 2009, Rickard Hederstierna swept the jury away with his visionary concept “Cocoon”, a sustainable response to the world’s growing population and its desire to consume meat and fish. Similar to heating popcorn in a microwave, Cocoon prepares genetically engineered and prepackaged meat and fish dishes. This process uses science to create food, lifting a burden on the planet by reducing the need for further intensive farming and fishing. Three years later Rickard has gone from his initial internship to being a part of the design team at Electrolux head quarters in Stockholm. We met with Rickard for a talk to see what advice and useful reflections he has to offer this year’s Design Lab participants.
Tell us about the process before the deadline and how it affected your life?
It was at the end of my five years of studies of industrial design. I knew that choices I made, would influence my future, and this was something that I really wanted to do. I had seen the film with Henrik Otto where he introduced the brief and talked about the theme for the competition. It inspired me and I was attracted by a company culture that would create this kind of initiative. So I took a rather boring day job to support myself and then spent evenings and nights working on my concept for Design Lab. I put all my eggs in one basket, so to speak. These were hard times for young designers looking to get hired. It was a challenging period of time, but I focused on the positive long-term goal. The experience was a reminder of what life decisions I was making.
What were your thoughts around the actual material that you presented to explain your concept? Did you have a clear idea of what was expected?
Not really, for example I first prepared 100 pages… and then I reduced them to 10. I chose to make a very visual presentation with a lot of images but not too much text. Also I put a lot of energy into making the presentation material visually appealing and interesting.
Can you describe the thought process behind your concept? How did you come up your the idea?
It is important to me that when you work with technology and the future, you still need to keep your focus on relevance and needs – rather than just falling in love with the technological possibilities. So that’s how I started. I analyzed the scenario and circumstances of the future consumers, defining given aspects and new needs. From there I could map out a problem and then create a solution for that. I believe this is key to the innovation process, we always need to keep asking ourselves: is this relevant, does it cater to an actual need?
At the finals, you had to present your concept in front of the jury and answer their questions. Were you nervous?
A little bit nervous, yes, of course, because it was an important moment. But I had practiced a lot before, at home in front of the mirror and recording myself and we also got to rehearse with a coach before the final presentation. The experience of having to do the live presentation was very useful and relevant because you have to do this often as a designer. You need to be good at presenting your ideas in a persuasive way. This first experience prepared me for all the lectures, interviews etc that have followed.
How did it feel to see your idea made into a real prototype?
Actually, I had not realized that this was going to happen initially so this was an amazing surprise. And then I got rather obsessed with the details, what exact color it would be etc. I wanted it to be perfect. It was extremely cool to have real pros build my product.
And what about the time after you won and came to the design centre at Electrolux?
It was great because I was quickly integrated in the teams that worked on very cool big projects. However, everyone was very understanding towards me and the role of an intern provided me with some time to grow into the responsibilities.
One last more general question. Where do you look for inspiration?
I follow several of design blogs. Architecture really inspires me. Generally, I look for inspiration for design away from product design – Architecture, nature, paintings, scupltures etc.
RICKARD HEDERSTIERNA
Age: 29
Title: Industrial designer at Dishcare, Major Appliances, Electrolux Design Group
Design Lab Experience: Global winner of the competition with ‘Cocoon’ in 2009
Rickard’s advice to Design Lab participants
1) Join the competition! It is a great experience that will teach you so much and give you the opportunity to meet very talented and experienced people. If you win it is a great way to start your career.
2) Don’t fall in love with technology for technology’s sake. Look for the relevance and purpose of your idea.
3) Keep a global focus, both when it comes to inspiration and for your own benchmark.
4) Keep your presentation tight and interesting. Do show the thought process but don’t overwhelm with details.
“I look for inspiration for design away from design.”
MORE ABOUT “COCOON”
