In this Design Dreams video produced by Dezeen for Moooi, Swedish design duo Front explains how nature and the Swedish landscape informs their design process.
Stockholm studio Front has worked with Moooi on a number of pieces, ranging from lamps and ceiling lights to tables and carpets.
Front's work is characterised by its vibrancy with products that feature intricate patterns and optical illusions. The duo is best known for a collection of lifesize animal lamps for Moooi, such the iconic Horse Lamp.
The studio is led by Swedish designers Anna Lindgren and Sofia Lagerkvist, who met while studying industrial design in Stockholm.
In an exclusive video interview with Dezeen, the pair described how their work is informed by experimentation and research into materials, landscapes, manufacturing processes and stories.
"We are fascinated with the magic that objects can bring you," said Lagerkvist in the video.
The designers described how the Swedish landscape influences their work, describing their natural surroundings as "kind of an extension of our living room to go out and play."
Front's latest design for Moooi is the Starfall Light, an upside-down chandelier that resembles stars and gives the impression of being beneath a starry night sky.
The concept of the light came to the designers when stargazing in a dark forest in Sweden.
"The idea for the Starfall Light has come about from our fascination with the starry sky at night, when we've been out in the forest," explained Lagerkvist. "When it's cold and dark, and you're laying there, looking up through the trees, and the stars are so bright."
Starfall is composed of 30 black, slender arms of varying lengths that bend downwards to suspend star-like LED lights. The dimmable LEDs are encased in decorative optic lenses that are designed to disperse the light subtly across the room.
Another product designed by Front for the Moooi is the Serpentine light, an undulating suspension light characterised by its elaborate twists and lightweight appearance.
Lindgren and Lagerkvist experimented with twisting paper to come up with the design for the lamp. The resulting piece combines multiple S-shapes to create the "illusion of perpetual movement".
"The Serpentine Light was very much about a play with paper," said Lindgren. "We wanted to create an advanced shape with a flat, simple material, that looks both irregular and regular at the same time."
"It's a three-dimensional shape, but it's also like a pattern," she continued.
The light is composed of translucent fabric twisted into cones that are outlined in a dark colour to create the appearance of an endless upward spiral. The material was selected for its ability to diffuse light evenly.
The Serpentine light led to the creation of the Serpentine carpet, which uses the same swirling motif as the light.
The carpets feature organic, undulating shapes with varying colour gradients and shadows to create a three-dimensional pattern.
"The Serpentine Carpet is a three-dimensional piece," said Lindgren. "We made it in paper and then we photographed it and used all the highlights and the shadows in it, and then it was recreated and printed as a carpet."
The carpet is available in four colourways, including amber red, dark green, green yellow and warm blue.
This movie was filmed as part of an ongoing collaboration between Dezeen and Moooi called Design Dreams, which explores how successful designers turned their dreams into reality.
Other videos in the series include designer Andrés Reisinger explaining how his viral Hortensia chair design was brought to life and Rick Tegelaar explaining how the Meshmatics Chandelier he developed at university became one of Moooi's products.
Partnership content
This video was produced by Dezeen for Moooi as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen's partnership content here.