
Growing up, what ignited your passion for design?
I was a little different as a child – yes I enjoyed football like the other kids, but I was always interested in a lot of other things that kids back then didn’t find interesting. I was very interested in design. It could be because my father was an artist. In my home we always had design magazines and art books – none of my friends ever had things like that in their homes.
So how did you start your design journey?
Well, luckily as a kid I was good at football – strangely enough Bang & Olufsen, were looking for a good midfielder for their company football team, who was also a good designer. I got a job there and was lucky enough to work with design icons like Jacob Jensen and David Lewis.
Bang & Olufsen is a great company – did you learn a lot with them?
Like I said, I worked with Jacbo and David. I also worked closely together with Jens Bang who was the son of the founder of the company – he taught me a lot of things! He was an incredible man, very tough. I remember once I had an idea that we should make those big record players in a different way, I went to Jens and told him my idea – he threw it back in my face. He sent me back to the U.S at that time and when I returned to him with the same result after on, he shouted at me again. The third time however, he said, “Okay. Now that you believe in it so much, I believe in it too.” From that, it taught me that you need to continue with diligence and you must have fight in you.
So after learning from the best in Bang & Olufsen, what was next for you?
After working with them for like 8/9 years, I wanted to express my ideas more. I got a job with a small furniture manufacturer where I more or less changed the whole product line they had. After, there was a small incident that happened at this company, but I won’t go into detail. [laughs] But because of the incident I got a salary from them or like year, which meant I had money to start-up, so I started up my company. I guess it was fortunate for me!
You’re based in Spain now, did you just move your office from Denmark to Spain?
[laughs] Well actually, it was after Colour 4 Kids – my collaboration with BO Concept. One day I was in Spain and just decided to move the office to Spain. I built my villa, my office and am now living there. It’s so beautiful. I have extended now too – I have an office in Vietnam and in China.
How are you finding the market in Asia?
I find the modern Asian style very similar to the Scandinavian style. It’s a lot of high gloss and “all that” sort of style. I know that my designs for Sketch will therefore be for a relatively small percentage of the market, but I think with the younger generations, they will be the ones to use the Sketch range. Tell us a bit about the Sketch range. It’s light furniture – it’s modern and fresh and it doesn’t make the room heavy. If you have only have a small space to furnish, like apartments, you don’t want a big, fat sofa or a chunky coffee table, so this collection is definitely a better fit. Sketch is made for an urban living or lifestyle.
What has been your proudest moment in your career?
I think it could be when I changed the product line for that furniture company. They were previously very conservative and then I changed it for the better as they were on the decline. Also, I am very proud of my extendable marble dining table – I made the ever in the world. Being part of BO Concept was great too – it’s literally all over the world and I know that this brand is here because I helped them so much.
For aspiring designers out there – what advice would you give them?
The most difficult part of all of this (design) is having the guts to bring a drawing into a real life product. You have to fight in this industry; you really must be tough and be prepared to jump into the industry. But you must also be humble.
What do you want our readers to know about you, Morten Georgsen?
Let me think…I really, really love good food and wine.
www.by-georgsen.com
To find Morten’s design right here in
Malaysia visit: www.mood-home.com