THE STORY OF A SWEDE IN ASIA
WHO / KLARA
Klara came to Shanghai in 2005 on a one-way ticket. This daring move has inspired friends in Sweden to move abroad as well – at least one of them went as far as to Norway! Well, it wasn't the first trip to Asia for Klara: she had been studying in Taiwan and visited the major Asian cities during that year. She fell in love with the streets of Shanghai and decided it was a place she had to come back to.
Klara has been working at WILDDESIGN Shanghai together with Gerhard. In Shanghai she also ran her own company, providing product development and manufacturing services in China for Swedish clients. She is an engineer, after all. Even though she sometimes pretends to be a designer, or even a writer. At WILDDESIGN, she has been making use of all of her skills, leading the projects in graphics, packaging design and strategic brand identity creation.
LEFT BRAINED COMMUNICATION LOVER
Klara grew up in the deep forests of Sweden in the small town Karlskoga where Alfred Nobel used to live – yes, that's the guy with the Nobel Prize. After some serious years studying natural science she went to art school for a short laid back respite before starting her university degree to become a Master of Engineering in Industrial Design, a study program that mixes mechanical engineering with product design. This inclination to engineering and logic thinking makes Klara the left side of the IDE NOMADS' brain: she's an undercover geek who loves reading about the latest tech news.
Now, it turned out that Klara was more excited about making beautiful project presentations than doing the actual product design projects. So after two years she took a study break to lead the university’s student magazine (pictured left) as a full-time employee, writing many of the articles and doing the layout.
After a year full of long working nights and print deadlines, Klara went back to her studies but continued working part time as a writer and editor, employed by her university for projects such as creating the catalogue of courses to attract new students. Fun work, indeed. Was industrial design really the right way to go? She wasn't sure, so she went studying in Taiwan. Half a year of studies at NCTU and then six months as an intern at Philips Design in Taipei where she learnt about design management and the competitive consumer electronics market. Then back to Sweden for graduation and six months work at the advertisement agency valentin where she handled the production of Saab’s brochures for international market, learning all about typos and V8 engines.
Before getting stuck in Gothenburg with a Volvo, a villa and a dog (the Swedish stereotype) Klara decided to leave for Shanghai. Her first year in China was spent in the outer suburbs of Shanghai, working for the French company TAO light designing the decorative lighting range, packaging and brochures. She was also the leader of a sourcing office before partnering up with WILDDESIGN. And the rest you know already: she now works with a delightful mix of product design, product development, manufacturing, strategy, branding, graphics and communication. All is well that ends well.
