Marcus Engman
Marcus Engman is head of design at IKEA.
Raised in Älmhult, Sweden, Engman began working for IKEA part-time during weekends and summer breaks while at high school, and later became the home furnishing apprentice to IKEA’s interior designer Mary Ekmark.
Engman worked for IKEA for 12 years before founding his own agency Kollo in 2000. In 2012, he returned to IKEA, the world's largest furniture company, as head of design.
Engman strongly believes in democratic design; designing products with maximum value and reach. Democratic design allows IKEA to have a common language with its customers about what good design is and what it has the potential to be.
In order for IKEA to stay innovative, Engman remains curious and keeps the customer at the forefront of all design decisions. Observing people’s behaviour and collecting data isn’t enough for Engman; he wants to operate on the user’s terms. Engman doesn’t believe that IKEA should work in isolation and so actively encourages collaborations with designers.
IKEA topped the 2017 Dezeen Hot List of the 500 people, brands and organisations our readers most wanted to read about.
