COHeSION
We have created a Danish Art Nouveau jewellery collection with a modern twist for our collaboration with Georg Jensen. The Cohesion collection.
Our inspiration was an organism which is the foundation for all life on our planet. An organism that creates a cohesion between all living creatures. They are irreplaceable and necessary for the circle of life. These organisms are mushrooms. And we would not be here without them.
We have been influenced by Georg Jensen's fascination with Karl Blossfeldt's close up photography of living organisms. And observed the characteristics of the Danish art nouveau, which include repetition and the nature it’s inspired by. This reflects Georg Jensen’s and our design.
The small whimsical creatures with a characteristic texture was an exciting element to incorporate in a modern Art Nouveau jewellery collection.
Our target group is millennials that appreciate quality and great craftsmanship. We have chosen a younger segment because they represent the future holding Georg Jensen's traditions in mind.
The Cohesion collection empowers nature's timeless aesthetics and the importance of preserving the earth connecting the past, present & future.
This project was created in cooperation with Mia Lyng Hansen, Nanna Sofie Hansen & Silje Mestawet Strabo.
Read more about the design process below the lookbook.
BUSINESS
THE ARCHIVES
Initially we had the honour of visiting the Georg Jensen archives to get a feel and understanding of how danish art nouveau (also called Skønvirke) jewellery looked during the specific time in history.
A visit to Georg Jensen’s archives in Copenhagen
ANALYSIS OF GEORG JENSEN
We created a brand brief in order to get a deeper understanding of Georg Jensen and their customers, to get familiar with the brand and its big idea, vision and mission.
From the brand brief we did a market analysis consisting of a 4P analysis (Price, Product, Place & Promotion). We also did a Spidergram to compare Georg Jensen with competitors. Next step was a SWOT analysis resulting in a TOWS response.
From the different analysis steps we found that Georg Jensen attracts a target group which is an older segment (45+), and mainly a female audience. Our approach with the Cohesion collection was to challenge Georg Jensen to expand their target group to a younger audience, in order to maintain their market position.
Also a street study was done to get a feeling of where Skønvirke is seen in todays everyday life. From these data we developed a new persona and a target group for Georg Jensen using the Empathy map.
PERSONA
From the business analysis results we created the persona, and from here the design drivers for this persona. We made a POV and HMW to understand and fulfill the persona’s needs and demands.
Design drivers - texture - contrast - nature - elegance - cohesion
POV - Elegant Alexandre demands a contrastful jewellery collection that reflects her fascination of the mushrooms whimsical textures which sends a signal of cohesion with nature.
HMW - How can we design a contrastful jubilee collection in cooperation with Georg Jensen that signals cohesion with nature and at the same time elegantly demonstrate the modern skønvirke through the mushrooms whimsical textures?
DESIGN
DESIGNING THE JEWELLERY COLLECTION
As Skønvirke is all about flora and fauna we decided to let our designs take offspring in the danish nature zooming all the way into the deep of the forest where mushrooms mystical forms and textures shows us nature’s beauty. Moodboards were created and sketching started. Next on was rapid prototypes in different materials to get a feeling of size, form and texture. We tested the results on our target group from which we made updates to the designs, and then moving on to finally draw a detailed sketching of 8 different jewellery designs.
DESIGNING DISPLAY & PACKAGING
It was important to us that the design of display and packagning reflected nature in materials and colors to create a cohesive fulfillment experience.
We designed the jewellery box and display in wood. Trees in the forest are connected through mushrooms which made the choice of wood obvious. We made the design clean to make the jewellery stand out and draw attention.
From the final sketches we went on to develop all jewellery designs in Rhino. This made us able to 3D print all items to get an understanding and feeling of final size and texture. After a few iterations of adjusting the 3D design, we where able to send the designs for casting.
To produce the final collection we refurbished, sanded and polished all the items to gain the professional finish we wanted in our products. Soft and clean on the back and textured and sensuous on the front.
