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Interview with Defyra

Day_	04/11/2003

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Defyra is a group of four designers from Beckmans College of Design: Anna Hjert, Anna Lang, Sanna Haverinen, and Lena Thak Karlsson. They were the curators of "Design Archipelago" at "Swedish Style" held in Tokyo in October, where these upcoming Swedish designers got the most attention.

Style-pd: Can you tell us a bit about yourselves? How did you start working together?

Anna Hjert: We were all into art. We all went to Beckmans and studied art. And we were all good friends. We had lunch together everyday (laughs).

Style-pd: Did you always want to be interior designers?

Sanna Haverinen: At the beginning, we didn't know what we wanted to do for a career. I think it is very common in Sweden that people don't decide what to do until they get older.

Lena Thak Karlsson: People are traveling and working with different things and then decide what to do. When I first went to Beckmans, I wanted to be a graphic designer.

Style-pd: Defyra - this means "4" in Swedish, right? How did you choose this name?

Hjert: We sat down one day and had a discussion about what should be our name. We were wondering if we should have an English name or a Swedish name. We chose a Swedish name because we didn't think that we would work abroad. It is Defyra, but we were thinking about adding something to that - such as Defyra something....

Haverinen: Defyra Adventure! (laughs)

Style-pd: Are there any other names you thought about?

Anna Lang: Not really.

Style-pd: How do you work together? Are there any roles where someone does certain things?

Karlsson: We change roles all the time. One thing I can say is that we have lots of discussions. Why do I think like this, etc.... And then we start working. For example, sometimes I do the drawing and pass it to Sanna, and other times Sanna does the drawing.

Hjert: The most important thing when you work together is to have discussion.

Style-pd: So everyone is always involved?

Haverinen: Yes, so far.

Style-pd: What do you think is important in design?

Hjert: I think it depends on what you are working on.

Haverinen: Maybe impact. I want people to get some impact when they use furniture we designed.

Hjert: With the latest piece of furniture, I wanted to make "furniture for everyone" - not just for certain kinds of people.

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