Design for Life – How design changes thinking and improves living standards showcases examples of design products from 1960 to the present day

Opening on 16 April, the exhibition features around 200 objects from Nationalmuseum’s collections.

This marks the seventh exhibition to be shown at Nationalmuseum Jamtli since its inauguration in 2018.

The exhibition Design for Life – How design changes thinking and improves living standards presents examples plucked from the wealth of products launched in the years from 1960 onwards. The hiring of designers for products is linked to the rise of industrialisation, with production accelerating after the Second World War and industrial design becoming an established profession. Creating attractive products became important and by the 1960s the Swedish economy was booming, with the high quality of Swedish design playing an important role in this success. Companies increasingly began employing designers and industrial designers in their product development and in a drive create a credible corporate identity. Design often expressed a strong belief in the future and resources were seemingly endless. Today, we view our needs differently and design for sustainable development is the major challenge for manufacturers and designers alike. They need to think in terms of circular processes and using waste and residual products as a raw material resource. With the advent of new materials and technologies, design can now even influence our lifestyles, not least ‘smart design’, where objects can communicate with each other or with us. The exhibition also includes some examples of projects and ideas that design students at Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm are working on today.

The exhibition contains around 200 objects from Nationalmuseum, which holds an extensive collection of applied art and design from the 16th century to the present day and has been collecting industrial design since the late 1960s. Themes addressed in the exhibition include the space age, the TV age, modern conveniences, the work environment, sound and leisure. The exhibition is curated by Micael Ernstell and designed by Henrik Widenheim, both from Nationalmuseum.

Design for Life – How design changes thinking and improves living standards will run at Nationalmuseum Jamtli in Östersund from 16 April 2025 – 15 November 2026.